Hit | Miss | Sideline: Fabulous Fellaini on fire
HIT
Marouane Fellaini was once again unplayable for Everton on Saturday and, but for outstanding goalkeeping from Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer, he would have had a well-deserved hat trick. He is such a presence and, on his day, there is just no way to contain him, as Manchester United found out earlier in the season.
The big Belgian makes such a difference to Everton and it is no surprise that, with him in such great form, they have had an electric start to the season. He defines Everton in the best possible sense. He works nonstop, is not afraid to tackle and has great technique.
I saw Steven Gerrard’s comment last week. He described Everton as a “long ball” team similar to Stoke, though he later retracted it. I can see where he was coming from but Everton are much more than that. They have an excellent mix. They have great team players from No.1 to No.11 and you look at the never-say-die attitudes of the likes of Jagielka, Distin, Neville, Baines and Hibbert combined with the flair and skill of Fellaini, Pienaar, Osman, Jelavic and Co and it’s a fine recipe.
If you ever get a result against Everton, you will know that you have deserved it. They are a credit to their manager, David Moyes, and it’s good to see a great club like them up near the top of the Premier League.
MISS
What the hell was Arsenal’s Andre Santos playing at swapping shirts with Manchester United’s Robin van Persie at half time? It’s an absolute disgrace. First of all, if you want to swap shirts, that’s all well and good, but leave it until the end of the game. He basically got torn a new arsehole by Antonio Valencia and then couldn’t wait for half time to swap shirts with an opponent who had scored against his team, which were losing. Talk about smacking your supporters in the face.
I have swapped shirts during my career but never at half time and never if I had let myself down in that game. Why would I want a shirt in my collection to remind me of the day that I got the piss taken out of me? The mentality of Santos in that situation is nothing short of a joke.
Yes, van Persie is a great player – and a former Gunner – and his shirt would be nice to add to anybody’s collection. But there is a time and a place and Old Trafford at half time certainly wasn’t it. It just amazes me that anybody would do this at the interval, especially in front of the cameras on the pitch.
It would be bad enough to do it in the tunnel during the break but this just adds insult to injury. One last note – interesting to see that van Persie didn’t take Santos’ shirt. Imagine Sir Alex Ferguson’s face as he walked into the dressing-room shirtless, with his opponent’s jersey in hand and with another 45 minutes of battle still to go. No, neither could I.
SIDELINE
West Ham secured a battling 0-0 draw against Manchester City that was well deserved. The problem City will find, in the same way Manchester United did for years, is that they will become everybody’s cup final. And it’s a hard crown to keep.
This season will define whether City have the know-how to remain at the top of the pile or not. I believe United will topple them and, with the capture of van Persie, they have not only signing of the season but the league-winning signing.
Well RVP may not have walked into the dressing room with an opponent’s shirt, but presumably he walked in shirtless unless Santos returned it immediately! The Secret Footballer says this happens all the time anyway
Never said shirt swapping didn’t happen. I have never seen it done at half time though and personally I think it’s a joke. My issue isn’t Van Persie giving away his shirt it’s the fact that his opponent had something more important on his mind than the game by getting his shirt at half time.