In soccer, like all sports we spend a giveaway time obsessing about, a shirts matter. Yes, a tangible shirts.

Sunday during White Hart Lane we schooled something we’ve already famous since, well, forever. Manchester United, no matter a edition, sojourn a standard-bearers of soccer in England during a Premier League era, while Tottenham Hotspur competence be an interesting group that’s fun to watch, eventually a one that substantially won’t win any vital trophies any time soon.

Peter Drury, a Premier League announcer on a universe English-language feed, called it “daytime robbery,” with Manchester United scoring — by Wayne Rooney’s header(*) on a cadence of halftime and Ashley Young’s bombardment off a deflection — giving a Red Devils a 2-0 lead notwithstanding Spurs handling many of a diversion in a opposition’s territory.

(*) Couldn’t assistance nonetheless meditative of Pinocchio whenever we saw Rooney Sunday.  Without a reticent mohawk-ish haircut his $30,000 hairplugs indeed concede him to demeanour like a “real boy” for a change.  

Maybe a best approach to put it is that form is temporary, category is eternal.

This isn’t a good Manchester United team. We all know that. It doesn’t seem like Sir Alex Ferguson or a players caring too many about that. For them, a honour in a shirt (cliche alert) still seems to matter. Or it matters to a antithesis and antithesis fans, for certain.

Even if a income to reinstate a likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, etc. isn’t accessible given of a Glazers, a players who hang around still seem to follow that old, “United way.” 

Sunday it was roughly as if created in a script, maybe a book of how Harry Redknapp all of a remarkable mislaid a England managerial position, nonetheless a book nonetheless. You couldn’t make it up, nonetheless we could wholly make it up.

Realistically, for all a spin domination, Spurs lacked any genuine punch in a final third. Chalk some of that adult to Gareth Bale being out sick, nonetheless United never unequivocally let Spurs widen them out, aside from a run here-or-there by Aaron Lennon. The approach United played, tough to see Bale doing many even with his Messiah-like powers. If anything Luka Modric wasn’t as effective on a left, nonetheless a Sandro/Jake Livermore midfield wasn’t a reason Spurs lost.

The deep-sitting United invulnerability was excellent, namely Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and even Rio Ferdinand who radically “bitch-slapped” Emmanuel Adebayor(*) out of a diversion by a start of a second half. David De Gea, again, showed that notwithstanding his early hiccups he’s roughly forlorn already for creation jaunty saves, afterwards again if you’re United we substantially don’t wish we screw constantly creation a highlights for diving punches.

(*) Adebayor is a master of frustration, never mind his sport on a idea line that denied Louis Saha an early tally. When he’s on his game, like vs. Newcastle, he’s among a best forwards in a world, when he’s not he is roughly worthless. Guess there’s a reason, in partial over his salary, he’s bounced from Manchester City to Real Madrid to Tottenham in a final 18 months.

The approach this diversion played out was roughly a ill irony between me and my crony Mike, who’s a Spurs fan and associate addict of “FIFA 12.” If you’ve played a game, afterwards no doubt you’ve had times like Tottenham — pier adult a billion shots, winning a spin — usually to remove to a male who scored on his usually dual shots of a game.

Soccer, no matter how many ways analysts try to mangle a numbers and demeanour for tip formulas by analytics, stays a simplest game. Play defense, make a many of your chances and you’ll shelve adult a 3 points.

Sunday’s diversion during White Hart Lane showed us that.

Of march all already knew it, nonetheless it’s always good to be reminded.

AVB, we frequency knew ye:

The ditch cloak has left a building.

Adios, Andre Villas-Boas, prolonged competence your brave run.

When Chelsea stunk adult a corner Saturday vs. West Brom in a 1-0 detriment during a Hawthornes everybody fundamentally knew a childish Portugueezer’s stay of execution was over. Mercifully, Roman Abramovich Putin-ed him early Sunday, saving us from another week of conjecture over Villas-Boas job.

Older players? Younger players? Rebuilding? Etc.

Have fun Roberto Di Matteo. Should be a noted 3 months. 

The Villas-Boas disturbance — and it’s a disturbance given a Blues are in genuine difficulty for subordinate for a Champions League and they blew some-more than $20 million to wring him divided from Porto(*) hardly 9 months ago — is dual fold. Granted, Chelsea can means a detriment of revenue, distinct a Leeds United from a decade ago. 

(*) Is Porto in line to be many cash-rich bar in Europe? From a income a finished on “selling” Villas-Boas along with Falcao and afterwards Hulk this summer. That’s a lot of Cozido. 

One, a prolonged shade of Jose Mourinho still haunts each singular thing a bar does — and he’s been left for roughly 5 years. Think of it this way, a Special One has been left from Stamford Bridge longer than he was indeed there.

Is Mourinho that, ahem, special as a trainer that Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba won’t accept anyone else revelation them what to do? Did Mourinho personally plant a chip inside their smarts to control them? It doesn’t make sense.

Then again, a inmates clearly run a haven during Stamford Bridge while Abramovich fiddles away.

That’s a bigger emanate during Chelsea, a male signing a check is clearly picking a team. It’s roughly on standard with Jerry Jones using a Cowboys into sameness post-Jimmy Johnson, sans players dating Jessica Simpson.

What’s baffling with Chelsea is a bar stays in a tip one percent. If they wish to pointer a player, they have a funds. What a Blues don’t have is a instruction or prolonged tenure plan.

That’s since a pronounce about Chelsea shouldn’t be if Rafa Benetiz, or Pep Gaurdiola, or Mourinho (again) will be a subsequent manager, it’s that a bar needs to sinecure a right-minded Director of Football, instead of creation all these herky-jerky moves on a fly, particularly a Fernando Torres preference final January.

With Abramovich and other group of power, this is never going to happen, however.

Devil’s Advocate. Suppose Chelsea remembers a aged days and a Drogba prop subsequent week vs. Napoli gets them on to a subsequent spin in a Champions League. Yeah, it’s a good shot in a arm and a suggestion boost, nonetheless it doesn’t residence a long-term problems during a bar — that start during a tip with Abramovich.

Right now Chelsea fans, who do we wish to build around? Juan Mata, Daniel Sturridge, Oriol Romeu? By default Gary Cahill and David Luiz. Beyond that? It’s unfit to get absolved of everybody, initial and inaugural Torres.

And what does a new manager want?

This is a problem even Abramovich’s check book competence not be means to arrange out by itself.

Jekyll and Hyde on Merseyside:

Admission: if we followed Liverpool Football Club over a final 5 years, I’d no prolonged exist. Either my heart would have given out, or I’d have overdozed on Zoloft. Is there a some-more Jekyll and Hyde group around?

Sure a approach a Carling Cup feat sausage was finished competence not we value articulate about, nonetheless it was a trophy. Less than a week later, Liverpool’s hopes of returning to a Champions League were all nonetheless dashed by Arsenal in a 2-1 detriment before many of America had gotten out of bed. 

Maddeningly frustrating doesn’t go distant adequate to sum adult a club.

What would expostulate me adult a wall, is that when we right down a Liverpool group sheet, there’s a lot of unequivocally good players, nonetheless when put together it occasionally works. The summer signings of Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam haven’t accurately clicked. The injuries, initial to Lucas, afterwards to Daniel Agger have caused bigger holes than you’d think.

And a fact a bar seems to get some-more goal-scoring from Craig Bellamy, Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt than Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll is an undisguised disaster. Liverpool’s strikers, if you’re scoring during home, are a essence of “the Swede” tenure we talked about during length a integrate weeks ago.

Yet, with a Carling Cup secured, Liverpool is during slightest going behind to a Europa League subsequent season. There’s a clever chance, too, a Reds competence be behind during Wembley lifting a FA Cup come May.

Chances are, though, however that Liverpool fans aren’t accurately going to be whistling all a approach to that conclusion. The weight of expectancy and a club’s abounding story are partly to censure for that.

Boring aged Arsenal:

Has a light blub left off over Arsene Wenger’s head? Did a Frenchman complete a dramatic, “a ha!”

Perhaps a usually thing that matters is a result, not how they’re achieved.

Arsenal didn’t do many to flog Liverpool 2-1 during Anfield, nonetheless when we have a league’s best pristine striker in Robin outpost Persie, we don’t have to do many of anything aside from emanate a gangling possibility and you’ve got a fighter’s chance.

One thing to cruise with Arsenal, a year ago after a 4-0 beatdown in a San Siro, a bar would have laid down for a rest of a season. Sure there was a hangover in a FA Cup detriment to Sunderland, nonetheless it’s tough to fathom a new selected of Arsenal rallying with a win over Tottenham and Liverpool afterward.

Is it too easy to contend a club’s sauce room genius altered when Cesc Fabregas left to be transposed by seasoned pros like Mikel Arteta, Yossi Benayoun, Per Mertesacker, etc. Not improved talents than what’s left a Emirates in a final integrate years, nonetheless guys who aren’t going to panic or quit on a season.

One area we can determine Wenger got right is that Wojciech Szczęsny is one for a prolonged tenure in goal. Aside from a howler in a 2011 Carling Cup final, he’s been unequivocally good. He does, it seems some-more than other keepers, get into collisions with onrushing enemy and emanate penalties, nonetheless he’s an ace shot-stopper.

With Spurs and Chelsea both losing this week, joined with Newcastle United’s pull with Sunderland, a weekend positively came adult Milhouse for Wenger. 

This isn’t a retreat hex — we cruise Arsenal has a possibility to allege opposite AC Milan this week. we unequivocally do.

Dempsey Dempsey Dempsey:

Two some-more goals for Clint Dempsey during Fulham’s 5-0 railroading of Wolves. The initial was a heading run brazen into a box.

Let’s flog off another run of conjecture as to where, if anywhere, Deuce should pierce in a summer to get to a “bigger” club. I’m starting to change toward a maybe he should stay where he is camp. Yes, it would be good for American soccer for a best actor to be in a Champions League, yet, Dempsey isn’t going to get appreciably improved personification opposite Borussia Dortmund or Benfica, or whomever instead of Wolves of Blackburn.

If he were 5 years younger, yes, it would behoove him to get to a best bar possible.

Now, after a fibre of managers, Fulham is straightforwardly identifiable as Dempsey’s club. He does what he does and that’s one thing — a business.

Playing for a bar like Fulham didn’t seem to harm him opposite Italy final week, did it?

More critical for Fulham, how about this Pavel Pogrebnyak?

Around a League:

When did scoring a chastisement flog in a Premier League spin impossible? … Shola Ambeobi — scorer of Newcastle’s final equalizer vs. Sunderland — has been during a Magpies since, what, 1992? … Royston Drenthe scorer a pink of a idea vs. QPR for Everton, who conceded a equalizer clearly seconds later. … Not many to contend about Manchester City’s easy 2-0 win over Bolton. we cruise Mario Balotelli competence or competence not have finished anything. Of note, Owen Coyle used American defender Tim Ream in a midfield, to not such good success. … Wolves and Wigan, that mislaid during home to Swansea, seem passed teams walking. Still cruise a Bolton/Blackburn or QPR for a final dump spot. … Stoke are behind adult to a tip half of a list with a win over Norwich, kind of display we a peculiarity of a Premier League this year. That wasn’t a compliment.

A Moment from My Friend Jared:

My friend Jared is an Everton fan who competence indeed like and obsess over a Premier League some-more than we do. Since we can’t remonstrate him to get onto Twitter, I’d like to share a content he sent me around 11:25 a.m. Sunday. Note: SWI = “Sick with it.”

“AVB SWI, WBA SWI, siggurrdson swi, pogrebnyak swi, mb45 swi, etherington swi, rvp swi, ibra swi”

Anything else?

Drenthe swi. 

Fantasy Team O’ a Week:

I was about to write a name of longtime fan of a blog, Colby Hall … until we saw on a second page of formula North Oakland FC — a hardest name I’ve seen in some time — put adult a many points with 67. Michael Coury runs a team. Top earners were Dempsey, Rooney, Charles N’Zogbia and Gael Clichy.

One Other Thing:

Interesting, if underneath a radar, growth in a land of US Soccer and how it pertains to high schools detailed by a New York Times this Sunday. Basically, if you’re an chosen player, we have to joining to a developmental acadmey and eschew high propagandize soccer.

Part of my “real” pursuit involves covering high propagandize sports, so we can pronounce from a small bit of an area of management here. High propagandize soccer is unequivocally zero like a general game, what with total subs, a using clock, etc.

It’s a intelligent pierce on a USSF partial to get these tip spin kids to mangle divided from high propagandize — and colleges and get them some-more in line with a rest of a world.

Sure we remove a small rah-rah partial of a diversion and some village spirit, nonetheless it should build improved players if usually given a growth will be overseen by a Federation, not transport teams and what not. Think, in a large picture, I’d rather see a child lift a FIFA-sanctioned award than a high propagandize one, right?

The one problem, however, is there are a lot of kids and a lot of soccer players in America. It’s going to be tough to tell a child not to play with his friends when, unless European scouts boost scouting opposite America, that they blew off personification high propagandize while sharpened for a $20,000 rookie MLS agreement when they spin 18.