So, we approach Christmas Day after three days of some hectic and excellent football and it seemed to be a kind of an anti-climactic end as it turned out.
After the early kick-off on Saturday, which was surrounded by some made-in-Malaysia drama, had ended in an expected solid win for home side Liverpool against the visitors from Cardiff, there were goals galore over the weekend.
And what better team to start with than my sentimental favourite Tottenham Hotspur.
It was brave of then interim coach Tim Sherwood to start with a central midfield of Mousa Dembele and Christian Eriksen.
While Eriksen was quietly influential, Dembele on the other hand is not ready to play a deeper role. And it does not look like he will develop into one either.
His natural instinct is to keep the ball and he does that rather well but his strength has to be applied further upfield as a second striker… as an alternative to Emmanuel Adebayor perhaps.
We saw the best of Adebayor, or Adebayor at his best, as he has a habit of turning up when the chips are down on himself.
Yes, he is a good player. Yes, he has played for some big clubs. Yes, he has never lasted long at these big clubs. Yes, that is because he has a recurring tendency to be too big for his boots. Let us just enjoy his three great performances per year habit.
On the other hand, Luis Suarez is the class that is needed upfront for Spurs as he put up another master class performance. Here is a player who simply loves football. He is a player who puts his team ahead of himself all the time, every time.
Will Roberto Soldado go the way of Fernando "False Number 9" Torres? I hope not! There seems to be the same blank look in his eyes but trust Sherwood to ensure Soldado starts firing soonest.
Then at the Emirates last night, another striker could not find the target on two great occasions. Step forward, Olivier Giroud!
He is yet another striker who perhaps is not going to be good enough for The Gunners if they dream of being league champions.
He is just not world class and despite all his application, does let the team down when a goal is needed. At the least, Giroud cannot complain about a lack of service with the prowess they have in midfield.
The pragmatic Jose Mourinho once again would be happy with the scoreless draw. He may insist he has attacking players on the pitch but the straitjacket tactics and a curbing of natural instinct shows up another pragmatic performance.
The extended weekend, however, was brightened by the outrageous talent and awareness of Adnan Januzaj. He is going to save David Moyes's bacon. Already showing world class belief, a new superstar has been found.
Finally, when two teams are equally matched, on the day that is, it is then that the highly-talented individuals take the stage. This is where Manchester City had the cutting edge as personified by the introduction of Jesus Navas against Fulham on Saturday.
The best performance of the season from Fulham was simply not good enough as City proved once again why they are the team to beat this season.
Before I end, I must especially mention two items of news that has made my day.
First, that Malky Mackay has not been given the sack as per the ultimatum by Cardiff City's majority shareholder in an email last Friday.
Mackay is doing right by not resigning and though he expected to be given the boot on Monday, it has not happened as yet. Let's hope that common sense prevails after all he has done for the club.
The other news is like a Christmas gift to me. I made a wish in my last column and thank you Santa as it was announced last night that Tim Sherwood has been named the new manager of Spurs.
It is only an 18-month contract, that is, until the end of next season, but it should be enough for him to prove it or shove it.
And like these two managers having a better Christmas than they may have expected a week ago, let me just wish all readers of The Malaysian Insider a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays. – December 24, 2013.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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