Gunners Stumble As New Season Opens

It was a bad day for Mr. Wenger and his fans (Mirror.co.uk)

I'm not sure how Arsene Wenger imagined his club's opening fixture would go, but I'm sure this wasn't in the script.  The day's controversial calls favored visiting Aston Villa, and the Villains rode them to 1-3 win at the Emirates to give themselves a dream start for their EPL campaign.  American fans will be pleased to note that Brad Guzan had a stellar outing in the win.

It actually started brightly enough for the Gunners though, as for the first six minutes it looked like things were going to go swimmingly despite zero additions to the team. specifically their attack.  They did their usual pretty passing and possession game.  In the sixth minute Villa defender Ron Vlaar got himself out of position and made a horrible challenge up near midfield, he whiffed and took himself out of the play.  Meanwhile, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain streaked into the space, ran forward and sent a pinpoint center pass to the six, where Olivier Giroud  tapped it home to make 1-0 to the Gunners.  That was about the end of the good things for Arsenal.

In the 22nd minute Gunner 'keeper Wojciech Szczesny took out Villa's Christian Benteke as he strode 1v1 in the box and conceded a PK.  I thought he should have seen red, but referee Anthony Taylor showed him  the yellow card instead.  Szczesny then saved Benteke's rather pedestrian PK, but gave up a fat rebound right back into the center of the box, which Benteke headed into the empty net for the equalizer.

The first half then proceeded to play itself out in a bloody manner, with Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs leaving the match with a massive bloody wound to his head.  The ref handed out a few more cards, but seemed to lose the match. Despite that the half cruised to a 1-1 end.

It went from bad to worse for Arsenal in the second half as Oxlade-Chamberlain went out early on with a knock to the knee.  Then in the 60th minute Villa took the lead for good off of another penalty  Laurent Koscielny took down Agbonlahor in the box, but it looked fairly soft.  Still, Benteke iced the PK this time to make it 1-2.  The referee further drew the fans' ire when he sent Koscielny off in the 67th minute with his second yellow card.

Soon enough the fans' wrath turned to Wenger though.  With the Gunners offense sputtering in search of an equalizer, they gave up a counter attack where Antonio Luna slotted home the final goal of the match to make it 1-3.  The Gunners fans unfurled banners lambasting Wenger for not spending as the club was booed off the pitch.  It really was quite the sight.

Interestingly enough, the Hawkeye Goal line technology system was first used in this game.  In the 52nd minute Villa's Fabian Delph hit the bottom of the cross bar, and the system correctly showed that the ball did not cross the line.  It was indeed a successful test.

It doesn't get any easier for Arsenal though, as they face a tough Champion's League Qualification test midweek, and they now have even more injuries.

QPR Efforts Net Draw Against Villa

Eric Lichaj and David Hoilett do battle on the ball. (Getty Images)

Harry Redknapp's home debut as QPR manager was fairly positive in most regards.  About the only thing they failed to pull out was a result.  Rangers certainly looked much more confident in attack as well as possession, but in the end an early defensive miscue would cost them the chance at all three points at Loftus Road.

QPR came out of the opening whistle like a house on fire.  They moved the ball very well in the opening five minutes and backed Aston Villa, in their road green strip, down into their own end.  The unfortunate thing was that they could only manage one shot out of all the pressure, a distance effort from Adel Taarabt that was blocked in the 5th minute.

Villa finally got a touch of the ball after the opening storm and proceeded into the QPR half.  To their credit, they took their big chance when it came their way,  In the 8th minute Ashley Westwood found Brett Holman just outside of the penalty arc.  The Villa midfielder proceeded to blast a cannon shot at goal between Rob Green and his near post.  The former England man got his hands to it, but wasn't able to turn it away as the ball deflected off his hands and into the inside of the side netting to give the away side a 0-1 lead.

QPR responded well though, coping with the shock and going back on the attack a few minutes later.  In the 18th minute Samba Diakite found Jamie Mackie in the area with a spot on early cross.  Mackie got great contact on it and put it past Brad Guzan in goal to make it 1-1 just 10 minutes after Villa had taken the lead.

QPR would have two golden chances to take the lead later on in the half, both coming off of long balls.  In the 29th minute Shaun Wright Phillips got himself in the middle of a 1v1 situation with Brad Guzan but the Villa 'keeper stoned him cold with a great save.  Four minutes later Wright Phillips found himself in the same situation, this time beating Guzan but clanging his shot off the near post.

There was also a scary moment for QPR and their fans late on in the first half.   In the the 33rd minute Stephane M'bia collided with Gabriel Agbonlahor just outside the center circle and collapsed into a heap with an apparent head injury.  The physios rushed out to treat him, concentrating on his head and neck, which they braced before stretchering him off the field.  He was taken to a hospital, but apparently suffered no major damage.

The second half was largely a dull affair, but still QPR had a couple of quality chances to take the lead.  In the 58th minute former United man Ji-Sung Park found himself alone in the penalty area, but smacked his shot right at Guzan, who easily parried the blow.

Rangers would have two decent chances to win late on as well, but again Guzan was up to the task on both opportunities.  In the 80th minute Taarabt hit Chris Hill in the area and Hill directed a header to the top corner, but Guzan was able to neutralize it.  The American shined one more time in the 82nd minute, stopping a low shot from Armand Traore to preserve the 1-1 draw at full time.

EPL: Liverpool and Aston Villa Name New Managers

Liverpool named Swansea Boss Brenden Rodgers as their new manager

Late last week two of the bigger questions in the EPL offseason were answered.  Who would take over the helm at both Liverpool and Aston Villa?  Liverpool sacked King Kenny after spending a ton of money and only getting the League Cup to show for it.  Aston Villa sacked Alex McLeish for sucking so bad that the club was nearly relegated.  Interestingly enough, both clubs went with younger managers who had brought their respective former teams up to the Premier League the year before.

First in line Liverpool announced on Friday that Swansea City boss Brenden Rodgers had been selected as their new man.  Rodgers led newly promoted Swansea City to an 11th place finish on 47 points.  His side was credited with playing some of the most attractive football in the Premier League.  The 39 year old has previously managed Watford and Reading as well.  He also worked under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

Swansea will not come away empty handed though.  Liverpool will compensate them for the fact that Rodgers was still under contract.  According to Swansea the two teams also agreed that Rodgers would not attempt to sign any Swansea players for 12 months.  Liverpool has yet to confirm this however.

Aston Villa announced their new manager over the weekend as well, though with considerably less fanfare and more controversy.  They appointed Norwich City manager Paul Lambert as their new boss.  This did not make Norwich very happy.  Supposedly Lambert tendered his resignation to Norwich last Tuesday, but the Canaries did not accept it.  There hasn't been much word on other details.

Lambert led Norwich to a 12th place finish last year, also on 47 points.  His managerial experience includes Livingston, Wycombe, and Colchester before leading the Canaries up through the ranks.  Villa was also criticized for prying McLeish loose from Birmingham City last year, so it will be interesting to see how this newest experiment works out.  Personally, I think Villa needs more than a new manager.

Aston Villa Sack Alex McLeish

Aston Villa have sacked manager Alex McLeish after one season in charge.

So this is the latest headline from the "You should have seen that one coming department."  Yesterday Aston Villa sacked manager Alex McLeish after finishing 16th in the EPL last season, just a breath away from relegation.

Villa's hire of McLeish after last season was somewhat controversial in and of itself.  Gerard Houllier had left the team for health reasons, and McLeish had just won the League Cup with Birmingham City.  Of course, Birmingham had also just been relegated, but that didn't seem to concern Villa.  Perhaps they should have paid more attention.

According to ESPN, Villa's American owner *snort* flew into town yesterday after Villa lost 2-0 to Norwich on Survival Sunday.  McLeish met with him and staff, and afterward the Villa website announced that his contract had been terminated.

Here's an editorial comment:  Assuming ESPN is correct, if I owned an EPL team, and they were in danger of being relegated, I'd be in the stadium watching.  I wouldn't be "flying in" the next day to sack the manager.  What a joke.

Early favorites for the job include Wigan's Roberto Martinez and Norwich's Paul Lambert.  Martinez has already dismissed the link and Norwich has said that any approach to Lambert would not be welcomed.

EPL: Aston Villa vs. Chelsea

Fernando Torres celebrates his goal at Aston Villa (PremierLeague.com)

The wait is over, Chelsea fans, it's happened.  Fernando Torres got a league goal against Aston Villa.  It's great to see.  The Spaniard has looked to be resurrecting his form somewhat of late, and it was nice to see it payoff with the ball in the back of the net.  It didn't really tell the story of the match though.

Villa came into the match just riddled with injuries.  They were fielding their youngest Premier League side in 4 years.  It looked like Chelsea was going to be in a good position to pick up some valuable points on the road, and the early minutes bore that theory out.  The Blues stroked the ball around like a training exercise and they zeroed in on the Villa goal. 

Torres got his first look in the 6th minute after a gorgeous through ball from David Luiz.  Unfortunately some good goal keeping from Shay Given snuffed out his chance to keep it level.  In the 9th minute, Torres again let loose right in front of goal.  Given again blocked his shot, but it fell right to Daniel Sturridge, who banged the ball into the net from about 5 yards out to give Chelsea the 0-1 lead.

After that Chelsea went on cruise control for much of the rest of the half.  Villa didn't put up any fight on offense, and barely pressed the Blues when they were on the ball.  However, the longer the score stayed at 0-1, the more Villa figured out that Chelsea wasn't going to destroy them.  They came up with a couple of decent chances late in the half, but couldn't find the net, and the half ended at 0-1.

Chelsea looked like they put the final stamp on the match early in the 2nd half.  In the 51st minute they took advantage of a corner kick, which has been one of Villa's weaknesses all year.  Juan Mata sent in the corner and Branislav Ivanovic picked out the ball and smacked it into the top of the net to make it 0-2 to Chelsea.

Then the Blues went on cruise control again, and it cost them.

Coming into the last 15 minutes of the match, it looked like Villa was just toast, but then they woke up.  In the 77th minute American Eric Lichaj put a long throw into the area, and James Collins came in, totally unmarked, and headed past Petr Cech to make it 1-2.  Then just three minutes later, Lichaj himself equalized at 2-2 when he knocked in a cross from Marc Albrighton.  Chelsea was stunned.

They woke up and kicked it into another gear though.  In fact, the tie lasted just 3 minutes, until the next Chelsea corner.  In the 83rd, Torres flicked on the corner to Ivanovic, who headed it in for his second goal of the day to make it 2-3.  Finally the Blues sealed it in the second minute of stoppage as Sturridge slipped a ball to Torres, who clinically knocked it past Given to hand the Blues the 2-4 win.

In the end, it was a lot harder than it should have been for Chelsea, and you have to give the young Aston Villa side a lot of credit for fighting back.  The Blues were just too much when they had their heads in the game.  Hopefully Torres has now turned the corner.  We shall see.

EPL: Fulham vs. Aston Villa

So why did I watch this match again? Oh yeah, the EPL is one of my favorite things in the world. Hey nobody is right all the time. This match was a stinker. Even the announcers were talking crap on it at the end.

What is there to say about this one? Well, Fulham probably had the better chances. They really should have taken the lead early on. In the 10th minute, Riise found himself with a golden shot at a vulnerable Villa goal, but hit the shot over. Lame. Given made sure Fulham didn't capitalize on any other chances.

New signing N'Zogbia was about the only outfield player who showed up for Villa. He wasn't near enough on his own though. Sure it's an away point for Villa, but both the fans and controversial new coach Alex McLeish will have a nasty taste in their mouths after a lack luster effort.

In the end, no goals, no anything. Very few chances. Both of these clubs will need to play better as the season goes on. Hopefully for fans of both sides, it can be attributed to opening weekend jitters.

An American Goalkeeper in London

Fox Soccer made it official last night: American Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, formerly of Aston Villa, will ply his trade for Tottenham next season. Friedel is currently sitting on 275 straight top flight matches, a record in England.

Current Spurs' net minder Heurelho Gomes made several high profile blunders in goal down the stretch last year, inflicting damage on Tottenham's Champions League run, as well as their league form. Some speculation says that he might be linked with a return to PSV Eindhoven.

Friedel's contract expires at the end of the month so it will be a free transfer.

Mark Hughes steps down as Fulham Manager

Sky Sports news is reporting that Fulham manager Mark Hughes has stepped down after just one year at Craven Cottage. Speculation is that he will go after the Aston Villa job, now likely vacant after Gerard Houllier's health concerns.

Stay tuned to your favorite Football sites and the Puddle as summer transfers and the coaching carousel heat up!