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

The opening week of EPL soccer got off and over quickly. Was it the same old thing? I thought so. I told you not to be carried away with pre-season results. Arsenal had a perfect start when Giroud scored and they dominated but finished upended but there were controversies but at least I got the score correct.  Liverpool and Tottenham got off with a win by the smallest margin. Can they last? Write off Man U at your own peril I have warned and they came off big winners and so too City while Chelsea strolled through easy winners. How now for the second matches? Fulham v Arsenal - Fulham surprised with a 1-0 away win over Sunderland. They can be really tough at Craven Cottage. Arsenal knew they must have a good start going into the opening match against Aston Villa to banish their bad old habits and had a perfect start but as usual they floundered. It made me wonder why they didn't sign Asmir Begovic (Stoke) and Christian Benteke (Villa). Wenger is under pressure but the 3-0 a...

Manchester Red or Blue lost both their managers. On the red side due to retirement after an illustrious career and the blue side for not achieving targets  but Mancini is getting lots of moolas for it. 7 million pounds! Even Mancini and Man City sounded alike, that is an awful lot of money. May be if I were in charge I could have won the F.A. Cup. Meanwhile, after 8 seasons of struggle and maintaining their Premiership status, Wigan has the dubious honour of winning the F.A. Cup and qualifying for a European competition and yet being relegated. Which is better, the F.A. Cup or Premiership status? You are going to have to enjoy the last matches of the season because weekend night won't be the same again for a few months. Meanwhile, David Beckham is retiring even though he was offered an extension by PSG for another season. Beckham has won League titles in four different countries Man Utd, Real Madrid, L.A. Galaxy and now PSG. He is never as talented as Messi or Ronaldo but he w...

Rafa Benitez may not be every one's favourite cup of tea but he did a good job at Chelsea but is some how unappreciated. Not that I like him in particular but I thought he deserved better. Meanwhile, there was a sudden announcement of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. Was it planned? If SAF stayed on longer perhaps they may not get a right replacement at the right time? Is Jose Mourinho the right man? He seemed so with his CV but his stock has fallen in recent times and Sir Bobby Charlton may not like his abrasive style plus Jose is a rolling stone lasting 3 years at one place. SIR lasted almost 27 years. Only I have lasted longer than him at one place. Sir Alex is taking on a new role as Ambassador and Director so he is still around to guide the next manager and David Moyes is Scot, determined and quite a bit like him when he was younger. But being around can actually be a good or bad thing unless Moyes is his own man. Moyes has built Everton with limited budget into a ver...

Gareth Bale has won both the PFA's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. The PFA is the Professional Footballers' Association and the voting is done by the players themselves which means most of his fellow pros confirmed he has been the very best. Few can argue with that. My question is why named him twice as POTY and YPOTY? Why not give the Young Player of the Year to another? Watch Bale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erjL4ebORiM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T75CBPFb-M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-48EfGjpdk Fulham v Reading - Fulham have not won in 5 games. Despite it, they are 11th with 3 games to go. They are safe and can start planning their holidays and plotting for next season thereafter. Reading have not won for a very long time and were already relegated. All season they have won only 5 matches. Craven Cottage was one a fortress but not any more. Besides, Fulham is not a side that can carve their opponents. Reading may be poor but the...

Is Suarez a wayward talent? He used his hand and gave away an unnecessary penalty then bit Ivanovic and scored the all important equaliser with seconds to go. He was the top scorer in the EPL with 23 goals to his credit which is almost 40% of Liverpool's goals and mostly playing alone up front and one of those selected to be Footballer of the Year.  RVP's hattrick has just pipped him by a goal now. Maybe Brendan Rodgers should sign this young fellow as Suarez has been slapped with a long ban. Will he be around next season? http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/argentina-u-17-player-scores-dazzling-overhead-kick-100919598--sow.html Still you can't beat this goal by RVP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxNlAcdsff8 And if you think that RVP'S goal was great, wait till you see this one: http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fit-to-post-sports/ultimate-goal-kick-off-better-van-persie-volley-234119191.html There was a player who kicked to death an owl ...

You can't deny talent. Some just faded. Others fell by the way side. You need not just passion but also a great deal of discipline, application and hard work. Let me show you how Messi played soccer when he was 5 years old. I think it helps that he is ever so humble like me but talent needs opportunity to be recognised. http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fit-to-post-sports/five-old-messi-just-amazing-25-old-messi-224152127.html Fulham v Arsenal - Fulham fell apart 0-3 at their stronghold Craven Cottage to London neighbours Chelsea. Chelsea is firmly in 3rd place with a ponit ahead of Arsenal and a game in hand. The Gunners are in their traditional late surge but could not turn their domination against Everton into victory. This is another London derby. In 5 previous meetings they are both level drawing 3 times and winning one each. A friend pointed out that Fulham have nothing to fight for. He is right but I asked this friend what he is doing around even when he too has nothi...

I am preparing you for an impending period of time where you will feel like zombies when the EPL season ends soon. Please prepare yourselves. Arsenal v Norwich - The Gunners are going great guns. They are on a roll as have been with the tradition of their late finish. Norwich have not won in 5 matches scoring only 3 goals and conceded 8. Hardly a good thing to take to the Emirates. Only their previous record with Arsenal was not too bad with WDL at 1/1/1. Arsenal are in 5th place 2 points behind 4th placed Tottenham with a game in hand. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush and the Canaries are there for the taking. However, they can be tough too as they have shown against Swansea. 2-1 . Aston Villa v Fulham - Villa lost to big guns like Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool narrowly. They have deservedly clawed their way up to 16th with 33 points. Christian Benteke has been amazing with a current tally of 15 goals. Fulham was undefeated for 5 matches before losing 1-0 to Newc...

The leading goalscorers in the EPL are (1) Luis Suarez - 22 goals, (2) Robbie van Persie - 19, (3) Gareth Bale - 17, (4) Michu - 17, (5) Rickie Lambert - 14. Rickie who? Yes, Rickie Lambert from Southampton. He is English, works his socks off in every match, creates and scores goals. He is playing in a weaker team and yet scored 14 thus far. His last goal was a gem against Chelsea leaving Petr Cech in his wake and helped the Saints to victory but the question that is left begging is why no England call up? He is better than the others and the best current English scorer. Reading v Southampton - Reading's (20th) goal scoring has dried up and have lost 7 times on the trot while Southampton's (12th) stocks are looking up. Reading sacked Brian McDermott whom I thought is a good manager and replaced him with ex Southampton manager Nigel Adkins whom himself was sacked from the Saints and he too is a good manager. Should Southampton's current position and form be a credi...

Tribute To Michael Owen Have you heard that Michael Owen is retiring at the end of the season? How quickly you have forgotten him. He's now at the grand old age of 33. Back in the 1998 World Cup, as an 18 year old prodigy, Owen came on the world stage to announce his arrival with that unforgettable great solo goal against Argentina.  Watch:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tLE62dvSfI Beckham floated the ball to Owen who flicked it with his side foot and then he turned his marker in the centre circle who was trying to grab him but to no avail. He was too fast. Another Argentinian defender was  retreating to the edge of his penalty box confidently waiting and in position to pounce at him but as the "Owen" Express approached the Argentinian was grasping thin air. Two other defenders went to the left as Owen veered right simultaneously crashing his shot to the top left corner. Goal!  Owen was goal scorer par excellence. Even though his spell at Real Madrid ...

What an amazing team Barcelona have been. In subdued form of late and even losing to perennial rivals Real Madrid, they got into further trouble when they surprising lost to AC Milan 2-0. To come back from the dead at this level and of course with the usual suspect in Lionel Messi scoring twice in the openers and finally won 4-0 is nothing short of breathtaking. The second goal was a super goal! Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkkGtbxhsqA http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/leo-messi-scores-impressive-goal-while-surrounded-half-201937664--sow.html Then watch this: http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fit-to-post-sports/striker-hits-post-four-times-single-shot-goal-083858036.html Everton v Man City - Everton have done wonders this season on a shoe string budget. David Moyes has done much more than anyone else with a very limited budget but of late they have become erratic as evidence in their shock 3-0 home defeat by Wigan in the F.A. Cup. City are not the ...

Not only did Nani saw red against Real Madrid. Many Man Utd fans were infuriated and Rooney did not start. No player is bigger than the club. Period. At one time, Rooney probably thought that he was bigger than Utd. Now they have RVP. Things are somewhat different.  There'll be a power struggle but the management at Old Trafford - read "Sir Alex Ferguson" has never lost. Let me dedicate this song to Nani: I Saw Red by Warrant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dh79Ggx9Js This week, there'll be only six matches with the most mouth watering tie between Liverpool and Tottenham. Norwich v Southampton - Norwich are no longer the same team. Although they held Spurs, they got thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool and then 4-0 by Man Utd. Southampton are also finding the going tough. They had beaten Man City 3-1 but slumped 2-4 to Newcastle and then lost at home to bottom team QPR 1-2. It is cruel to pit both teams together as I like the way they have been playing. The Saints are a...

Tottenham v Newcastle - After going four matches without a win, Tottenham must feel more confident after that away 1-0 win over WBA with that super goal from Gareth Bale. Newcastle won only once and drew twice in their home game with Spurs and have a poor record at White Hart Lane having lost 2-0 and 5-0. Do not write off the Magpies who after not having won for six matches bounced back with a French revolution winning two in a row and their thrilling 3-2 win over Chelsea must be a huge morale booster and are surely on the road to recovery. In their last drawn match it was 2-2. I say draw at 2-2 . Chelsea v Wigan - Chelsea have not on in four matches. That was an alarming decline losing precious points. It may be good for Chelsea that they are facing a Wigan also in alarming decline having not won for more than eight matches they may have forgotten how to win. Wigan's record against Chelsea have been rather poor having lost all but one match which they drew. It is surely a m...