Manchester United put up a top performance against a very uninspiring Antonio Conte side which saw Erik Ten Hag’s men get a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes, but guess what everyone’s talking about today? You guessed right, it’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Liverpool edge a win through a Nunez header and Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde is something else.
RONALDO’S REACTION: AN ACT OF UNPROFESSIONALISM
Before we get into Ronaldo’s case of ego, unprofessionalism, selfishness or whatever you may what to call it, there is this ability of confidence whereby every top athlete holds themselves in high regard, much higher than their peers. They constantly push themselves to get to the heights of those words and those respective successes just add more to that belief and it keeps growing to the extent they become way higher than their peers. If a player tells you during the season that he’s going to get 20 goals and goes on to attain that objective, the following season that belief grows and he’ll be shooting for 30 and more.
Now, a player like Ronaldo has done it so much that it’s now a delusion. It has granted him so much success in his career and the fact that he still harbours the thought of him attaining such heights is now the reason he’s taking the slide down. At 38, it’s more than respectful to note that no one can do it at his level but those heights are far from him. Erik Ten Hag must have realized this and he’s trying to get the fit of the team without him, but with Ronaldo at the frame of things and proper communication which seems to be lacking between both parties, there are only going to be more problems. Ten Hag said he’ll deal with the situation today, we just hope Ronaldo isn’t taking an ass whopping.
Spurs have been more than disappointing this season and we all knew it would be a matter of time before they get exposed by the bigger teams. Got a draw versus Chelsea after a disappointing display, were shambolic against Arsenal as the Gunners made light work of their rivals and Manchester United hasn’t had an easier game against a team like yesterday. They rely so much on the counter-attack that when it doesn’t work they’re clueless. Now creativity at midfield and they only looked good against Everton because Frank Lampard was worse, well Antonio Conte has laughed off any chance of Spurs challenging for the title this season and so have we.
KLOPP STARTING TO SEE GREEN AGAIN
Moving forward from their victory over current Premier League champions Manchester City, Klopp’s side was able to grind out another tough victory at Anfield. Darwin Nunez scored just his third Premier League goal of the season to give Liverpool the win over West Ham. However, Jurgen Klopp’s side was just as indebted to Alisson, who pulled off a stunning penalty save from Jarrod Bowen to keep his men ahead. The Hammers could’ve yet scrambled a point at the death but Tomas Soucek was foiled by James Milner’s last-ditch tackle.
Nunez was lively and was always causing problems for the opposition as he saw his efforts ultimately rewarded with a goal, Thiago was dictating play and making things tick, Firmino was decent as he posed a threat with his decisiveness in the situation, and with all this Salah blanked again. We apologized when we thought he was back, and moved back to the wing after he played a bit of a central role against Man City, he just couldn’t influence the game in any way and it was disappointing, a win nonetheless and Klopp’s side is well into recovery.
REAL MADRID WITH ANOTHER CRUISE
They really are inevitable this Madrid team, they’ve had such a lovely week and no matter what the offside flag did to slow them, they just went and got another one. Benzema was gold, Valverde was almost unplayable and the rest of the team had a pretty comfortable evening playing against an Elche side that is yet to find a win this season, they had no chance against this tough and confident Madrid side. The Galacticos keep marching on.
ALSO IN THE NIGHT…
Arsenal Women handed out a big statement to the current holder of the Champions League Lyon with a 5-1 thrashing away in France and Barcelona Femini did more with a 9-0 win against Benfica. Chelsea couldn’t get passed Brentford who held them to a 0-0 draw. Newcastle keep proving to be a great side as they were able to overcome Frank’s Everton side.
FOR TODAY…
Top watchable games available. Arsenal v PSV, Fulham v Aston Villa, Leicester v Leeds, Barcelona v Villarreal and Paris Saint-Germain Feminine v Chelsea.