Two Premier League games were called off due to weather on Wednesday, so we unfortunately have nothing to say about Everton-Crystal Palace or Manchester City-Sunderland. Except that Goodison Park is apparently falling apart. That's not good!
Wednesday Premier League takeaways: Tim Krul struggles against Spurs, Arsenal and Manchester United disappoint
Arsenal and Manchester United didn’t know they both needed a win, while Tim Krul had a shocker. That and more from Wednesday in the Premier League.
Man United and Arsenal offensively boring
by Kevin McCauley
Following Manchester United's shocking stoppage time collapse over the weekend and Arsenal's horrible showing away to Liverpool, one would have expected both of them to look desperate to win Wednesday's match. The opening minutes produced huge chances for both teams, suggesting that a wide-open match could be on the way, but instead, almost nothing happened. Both attacks were poor and each goalkeeper had to make just one difficult save.
The crowd at the Emirates booed. It’s not clear if this was Arsenal fans booing their team’s performance, both sets of supporters booing the performances of their respective teams or everyone in the ground, regardless of affiliation, booing a bad game. No matter what it was, the reaction was appropriate. It was awful, unwatchable garbage, and from a couple of teams that should have been going all-out to win.
Arsene Wenger and David Moyes owe the world an apology.
More from our team sites
More from our team sites
Cottagers not doomed yet despite crushing loss
by Jack Sargeant
Fulham probably headed into their games against Manchester United and Liverpool expecting to leave with nothing. As it has turned out, their early predictions weren't too far wrong. But, having thrown away leads late in both matches, they will no doubt be distraught.
However, if they’re going to stand a chance of survival, it’s crucial that the Cottagers don’t let their heads drop -- or worse, replace manager René Meulensteen with Alan Curbishley. Tonight’s 3-2 defeat to Liverpool saw Fulham play rather more adventurously than on the weekend; creating ample counter-attacking opportunities on Simon Mignolet’s goal.
The signing of Lewis Holtby already looks impressive, with the Tottenham Hotspur loanee offering a neat creative outlet on the break. Fellow January arrival Ryan Tunnicliffe has also shown promise. Taking positives after two late blows can't be easy, but Fulham certainly aren't doomed yet.
Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
The 'Screw AVB Tour' continues while Tim Krul falters
by Zach Woosley
Spurs got an important win as they continue to chase four place. Renaissance man Emmanuel Adebayor continued his "Hey AVB, look at me" tour with two more goals, reminding us yet again how reliant this Spurs side is on their striker.
More from our team sites
More from our team sites
Tim Sherwood’s tactics continued to be weird as he lined up the side in a 4-3-3 and apparently told everyone to just run around and do what you like. The shape was closer to amorphous blob than an actually structured formation, but it worked. While it generated four goals, you still don’t get the sense that Spurs are a team that can take apart one of the teams in front of them as they chase the Champions League.
Hugo Lloris was pretty darn good for Spurs, twice denying what looked like sure goals for Newcastle with excellent saves. Oh yeah, Younes Kaboul > Michael Dawson . . . but we knew that.
Newcastle weren’t as bad as the scoreline might lead you to believe, with three of the four goals a direct result of Tim Krul making mistakes and leaving massive rebounds that were immediately jumped on by Spurs’ players. Poor Tim Krul.
Chico Flores is a jerk, and also awesome
by Ryan Rosenblatt
Chico Flores hasn't been overly popular around Swansea lately, and certainly not with Garry Monk. His play slumped some and a month ago, he and Garry Monk got into such a big fight that he allegedly picked up a brick. The two downplayed the situation and reportedly made up, but Chico was hardly a hero in Wales.
He was the hero on Wednesday, though.
Chico played a fine match at the back and also earned Swansea a draw, scoring a second half equalizer to make it four points from two matches for the Swans under Monk. Swansea are now up to 10th in the table, and while that is only four points clear of the drop zone, it’s better than it was when Monk took over, in large part thanks to Chico.
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