www.Go To The Mountain - Musings of a Potential Guru

The Christmas to the New Year period is the most brutal part of the English Premier League and even more so in Covid year. It makes or breaks teams and players. Even the fans could be left breathless with games coming and going furiously. There will be some surprises coming...or maybe not. A Supercomputer has predicted for example that Arsenal will get worse...but they will avoid relegation. How about the others? Before the year is through and a few games short of the halfway line how do you think your teams should be graded? Here is what I think (current position): A Teams - (1) Liverpool, (2) Leicester, (4) Everton, (5) Chelsea, (6) Tottenham, (7) Southampton,  B Teams - (3) Manchester United, (9) Aston Villa, (10) West Ham, (14) Leeds,  C Teams - (8) Manchester City, (11) Wolves, (12) Newcastle, (13) Crystal Palace, (16) Burnley,  D -  (17) Brighton -  (18) Fulham,  E -  (19) WBA, F - (15) Arsenal, (20) Sheffield United. Liverpool are A + because ex...

Champions Liverpool are back on their perch at the top of the Christmas tree! When they lost 2-7 shambolically to Aston Villa early on, all knives were out about their demise. When one of their most important players Virgil Van Dijk had a serious knee injury followed by a string of other injuries to Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson, Andy Robertson, Thiago Alcantara, Trent Alexander-Arnold with Firmino off colour, Salah and Mane having Covid and even Alisson Becker was injured etc. it was all gloom and doom. The Reds are in a huge crisis!  Most teams would panic and rush to go on a buying spree for a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker but instead Klopp and his coaches knew their players and team and the dynamics well and brought in their youngsters.  How have, Rhys Willaims, Nathaniel Philips and Curtis Jones shone! Unbelievavle! Even fabulous Fabinho who is a midfield linchpin switched so comfortably into a centre half and still excel there. Last week, Crystal...

Singapore will soon be in our terms at Phase 3 of our Covid fight. Things are looking better due to strict measures  and sacrifice of  some freedom from all people. It is a hard act to balance the safety of the people, saving the economy etc. More overseas visitors will come under strict control but the unseen and unknown enemy is dangerous. Phase 3 looks more dangerous in that some people may have been fatigued or become complacent and let their guard down. Many countries have experienced 2nd, 3rd and several waves. So take care peeps. Keep safe. Be vigilant. You cannot win until the final phase or wave is no more. Do not let it come back to score in the 90th minute or later. Follow the Advisory as SG has social media known as Phasebook. Do not rush and phase yourself into unknown territory. Good luck! Champions Liverpool are back on their perch as league leaders, a timely reminder to the rest of the chasing pack that despite their heavy casualty list, yet again they have fou...

Fast and furious! Arsenal are in complete meltdown. Liverpool are the walking dead. Newcastle, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and heck even Manchester United and City are in unfamiliar territory. Everton, West Ham, Leicester and especially Southampton are having new lives after finding their fun packs and life hacks. Its anybody's game. A leveller of a season.  West Ham winning away over Leeds would have been an unlikely event but it has happened often enough so it is no fluke.  Aston Villa and Newcastle have more wins than losses which were things that even they found hard to believe. That both Manchester clubs were playing for a point rather than to win got even Roy Keane shaking his heads and furious when he saw players hugging one another in such a derby after the game. High-flying Chelsea were knocked off their perch by a resurgent Everton. Southampton have been amazing and deserved their 4th spot, even quietly better than Chelsea in 5th. Tottenham are still the le...

  After 11 games, Tottenham sit proudly on top of the table with 24 points jointly with Champions Liverpool with better goal difference. Surprisingly, Liverpool are the league's highest goal scorers with 26. Chelsea 2 points behind are looking like the real thing and up for the challenge.  Leicester who have not won in 3 matches finally did with a final minute goal by who else but Jamie Vardy to be in 4th. Southampton are so good that they climbed to 5th with an away 2-1 win over Brighton.  Manchester United are 6th with a game in hand but 5 points behind the leaders while City are 7th a point behind their neighbour also with a game in hand. West Ham have been very good and deserved their 8th position. Everton after a blistering start have dropped to 9th and Wolves made up the top ten. You are wondering where the other Big Six Arsenal are. They are languishing in 15th with a deficit in goal difference 10-14. This is troubling. The latest top scorers are: (1) Dominic ...

What do we talk about this time?  VAR VAR is a nuisance which is slowly killing the game we love. They have surely got it wrong. It is a good invention and introduction but when wrongly applied has taken much joy from the game. Common sense tells us that the referees must decide and when in doubt could consult. Viewing VAR in slow motion? I do not have more to say. A slow-mo replay of parents playing with their children could look like child abuse.  Arsenal Mikel Arteta changed things and was looking the part but since then what has happened? The latest 1-2 defeat at the Emirates to Wolves was not only the third successive home defeat but the Gunners now sit 14th with 13 points from 10 games making it the lowest ever at this stage in the competition. The honeymoon is indeed over but the Europa 4-1 win over Rapid Wien with  2,000 returning fans gave them some belief back. Chelsea v Tottenham That was an anti-climax. I was expecting more. Lampard was bold and all attacking ...

  RIP Great One Diego Armando Maradona! There is none like him and never will be. His World Cup goal in 1986 against England where he dribbled half the England team to score may never be repeated. In the semi-final he did almost exactly the same thing to Belgium.  He was pure genius and a magician. Geniuses see things that others don't. In soccer, they even know where their opponents are moving before their opponents themselves know it. That is how they create time and find space no matter how tight. All geniuses have flaws too and it is part of their personality and he has the child in the man. Think Paul Gascoigne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wVho3I0NtU (Argentina v England) All the world's best players may have some similar traits but are all different. Pele was probably the most complete with his goals, creation, movement, headers and being equally adept with either foot. Johan Cruyff was the conductor of an orchestra. Zinedine Zidane was a ballet dancer. Franz Becken...