The Opening Weekend

Well, it appears that my wish at the end of my last post was granted - most players did get on with the game this weekend! This made it an excellent weekend football wise, with not a single Premier League red card and only four in the rest of the Football League. It also made for some entertaining games and a few surprises along the way. Lets discuss the key incidents.

Arsenal vs West Bromwich Albion - Howard Webb
A trouble-free start for Howard and team here, with not a yellow card in sight. However, I have to say that I felt Webb interfered a little too much in proceedings, giving free kicks for the most minor fouls (Miller on an Arsenal defender springs to mind), missing the odd advantage and fussing over blades of grass when it comes to positions from which free kicks are taken. In a tense and difficult game these would help him keep control, but in an easy game like this they were unnecessary. I think Webb has become a little over-fussy at times since his rise to the top in the past couple of years - I'd prefer to see the Webb of two years ago, who let things flow more. But no major errors, a good if not outstanding performance.

Middlesbrough vs Tottenham - Martin Atkinson
Only one incident of note here - David Wheater's disallowed first half goal. There was a fair bit of tugging going on by both parties, and in such a situation the defender nearly always gets the decision. Its unfortunate really, as I can see what Martin Atkinson saw, but it was six of one and half a dozen of the other if the truth be told. Atkinson has admitted his mistake and apologised, and thankfully it didn't affect the result.

Chelsea vs Portsmouth - Mike Dean
I thought Mike Dean missed a few things here and there - including not punishing Deco more severely for his early poor challenge, giving just a free kick. But the main issue of contention will be the penalty awarded to Chelsea, on the advice of assistant referee Mo Matadar. Distin's hand is away from his body and does stop the ball going across the area. But is it deliberate? I'm tempted to say not, and the look on Distin's face too suggests that he knew nothing about it. This is one of those decisions which falls in the grey area as to what is and isn't deliberate. In such cases, I'd err on the side of caution and not give the penalty, but can totally understand the argument in favour of giving it. A good spot from Mr Matadar, whether it was correct is open to debate.

Manchester United vs Newcastle United - Mike Riley
Two penalty claims here, one for each side. Manchester United's claim that Milner handled Giggs' free kick was turned down correctly in my opinion by Riley. The ball was struck at such a pace that Milner could do little about it hitting him anywhere, so I don't think you can class that as deliberate and give a penalty. Newcastle's claim involved Vidic bodychecking Jonas as he ran through. This was a clear foul missed by Mike Riley - Vidic had no intention of playing the ball. However, I think the offence was just outside the area, so it would have been a free kick and probably a yellow card had it been given.
Otherwise, I thought Riley was excellent, didn't miss anything and handled things very well. Mr Rooney obviously wasn't listening when it came to the campaigns against dissent, as he didn't seem to be behaving any differently, although I guess it was frustration, caused by an excellent showing from Newcastle.

Overall, a decent start then. I think a few of the referees might have been slightly off the pace - just like the players, referees can sometimes take a while to get into the swing of things at the start of the new season. I'm sure things will settle down, and it should certainly be an interesting season. If you want tips from me, I'd go for Chelsea for the title, the big four to be the top four and probably Aston Villa in fifth. As for relegation, I think West Brom have the best chance of surviving of the three promoted clubs, and I fear for Stoke after a dreadful start for them.