Prem-time! With Matt.

What up.

I've been following the Premier League very closely for a second season, and thought I'd put some of my opinions down on paper each week.  While many of my compatriots would not agree with me, I feel like the Premier League & Champions League is the best show in sports right now.  My goal (pun) is to recap the weekly action, highlights, 'fixtures and results' of significance, and overall trends that are affecting the league.

With the season almost halfway through, I think its clear we have a two-team race, once again.  Man U and Man City are slowly starting to separate themselves from Chelsea, which initially looked like a championship contender. They started the season in great form under di Matteo with a refreshingly potent style of play (as opposed to their effective, yet agonizingly cautious defensive approach last year) led by their trio of creative midfielders - Mata, Edgar, and Hazard.  Torres was even showing a glimpse or two of his Liverpool days, but after a poor run of play in England and Europe, culminating in di Matteo's canning, they are starting to look just as fragile as they were early last year.  Rafa Benitez has stepped into a almost impossible situation, and I can't see them being a threat to either Manchester side when its all said and done.

Torres hasn't scored in his last 7 or 8 matches, and in my opinion, still looks quite uncomfortable on the field, especially when trying to create something for himself.  When he isn't consistently finishing opportunities created by the midfield, he's a liability.  Outside of Torres, Sturridge has looked promising at times, but still inconsistent and now, injured.  Watching their matches, the reliable ones have been Mickel (althought a goal every year or so would help...), Ivanovic, Hazard, and most of all, Mata, who is quickly becoming a more dangerous version of his Spanish countryman, David Silva.  Lack of depth, along with the day to day turmoil will keep these guys anywhere from 3-6th in the table.  Too many good players to completely fall out of the picture for the Champions League next year.

What to follow after the first 15 matches or so...

Can Everton keep up their good run of play?  Fellaini is the Premier League's "Most Improved Player", Baines is rock-solid, Tim Howard is American (enough said), and a lot of strong supporting players.  If Jelavic can start scoring near the rate he was at the end of last season, they'll be in good shape.  They've had a mediocre run over the last 5-6 matches, piling up draws, but have looked consistently dangerous in the process, although the scorelines may not show it.  In most of their recent matches, they have squandered a late goal which ends up costing them, so they do need to work on putting teams away.  That being said, their threatening style of play is a welcomed change from last year, when Fellaini was underperforming and Tim Cahill continued to be the most overrated, ineffective EPL center forward in recent memory.  He was caught offsides more than Luis Suarez can ever hope to be.

What's going to happen with Tottenham?  I was surprised by the AVB hiring this off-season, and I'm in no way sold that he's a great manager in the EPL, but maybe he was destined to fail at Chelsea?  They're in fourth at the moment, which seems fortunate based on the inconsistency of their play, but not a bad spot - possibly better than last season.  Bale is starting to pick it up, and when he's at his best he's every bit as valuable as a Van Persie, Rooney, Toure, Suarez, etc.  Defense always seems to be the question here.  Question for myself...what happened to Scott Parker?  In the matches I watched last year, he seemed like the guy who took them from good to "cracking."

Pretenders or contenders?  What will happen with West Brom, Swansea, West Ham, and possibly squads like Norwich?  West Brom looks the most complete team out of this sampling, but Swansea has looked strong and West Ham just had a second-half for the ages with their 3-1 defeat of Chelsea.  I suppose you could include Everton in this bunch, but they strike me as a more well-rounded team than these others.  First-half-of-the-season shout-outs, WHAT WHAT!, go to Shane Long (West Brom), Miguel Michu (Swansea), and Mohamed Diame (West Ham).  And gotta dig players like Grant Holt, who just find a way to score goals no matter who the competition might be.

What will become of Liverpool and Arsenal?  Forgetting about Newcastle (nice win v. Wigan) and Fulham for a moment, I still am bullish on these two squads.  With Liverpool this is how I see it.  If Luis Suarez stays healthy, they will be a top 8 team, and potentially could rise to around 6....for realzz.  I've watched most of their games, and Brendan Rogers style looks like it should be effective.  They have shown glimpses of what it can be (see Norwich), but just don't have anyone besides Suarez who is finishing or creating in the final  quarter of the field.  Sterling has overachieved, especially as a 17 year-old, Gerard is better-than-average, and I've always liked Glen Johnson and their defense.  Somewhat worried about their midfield.  Joe Allen hasn't looked great for me, luke-warm on Shelby, and Jose Enrique seems effective until he gets near the goal (good defender tho).  I think they'll fall around 7 or 8 in the table, and supporters will end the season with a good taste in their mouths regarding Rogers.  Maybe some noise in the FA Cup?

With Arsenal, I think there's a lot to like.  A work in progress, yes, but tons of talent and a coach I consistently like in Arsene Wenger.  Something I need to come clean about - I thought the dude was German until about 3 months ago...OK, more like 3 weeks ago.  Yikes (he's French).  Anyways, it seems like they always take two steps forward and 1 back.  Or maybe more like 1.5 steps forward and 1 step back.  They're doing OK in Europe, have an attack force in Giroud, Podolski, and Walcott which, in theory, should always produce some decent chances, and a strong midfield with Cazorla and the consistently under-appreciated Arteta (who kinda looks like he puts on a small base layer of makeup and plucks his eyebrows before games...seriously, he looks like a manikin/wax statue).  Oxlade Chamberlain should continue to get better, and I see glimpses with Gervinho.  I've also seen some really shaky moments in front of goal...we'll see.  At any rate, I think a top 4 finish is still within their grasp.  Their cast of characters, which is on par with Chelsea's, only rivals Man U and Man City in quality (love using that term:  If you are a football, basketball, or baseball fan exclusively, ask the nearest futbol aficionado what it means, you're not alone) and will continue to mesh and play better.

More on Manchester United and Man City after their match this upcoming Sunday - plenty to chat about there.  

Waggles Top 10 (not necessarily by their current standing...how they'll end up):

Man U
Man City
Arsenal
Everton
Tottenham
Chelsea
Liverpool
Swansea
West Brom
Fulham

Thoughts? Reactions? Is there anything I wrote which seems stupid to you?  Dig the feedback.

Ultimate goal here is to get a group of knowledgeable futbol fans together, talk some shop over the interweb, and hopefully find some times to get out at 7:30am on a Saturday or Sunday to watch matches like ManU/ManCity this weekend while throwing back a Newcastle or 5.  Maybe while watching Newcastle?