It isn’t exactly halfway through the season, but all of the clubs are 18 games into their 2011-12 campaign except for Everton and Tottenham (both are 17 games in) who have to make up their first round fixture due to the London Riots. One of the things I like to follow throughout the Premier League season is the unspoken (or lightly spoken) regional battle between the Premier League clubs of Greater Manchester and Greater London. With all due respect to the Midlands region and the country of Wales, the most polarizing clubs of the Premier League, save Liverpool, call one of these two regions home. I will share the numbers and dissect the region’s clubs and compare them. At the end, I will share my opinion of which side is winning the battle so far.

This battle is only being analyzed from the Premiership’s perspective not the from the perspective of European football. However, I will mention that in my opinion, London has already won that particular battle considering that both of the London’s representatives (Chelsea and Arsenal) have moved to the knockout rounds. Both of Manchester’s representatives (City and United) have been eliminated in the group stage. So let’s begin by introducing the two sides’ representatives in the Premiership. I will list their overall records and records against the clubs in Manchester. I was thinking about adding Blackburn to even out the two regional sides at five, though I know Blackburn is close to Greater Manchester but not in it. However, Blackburn doesn’t have much to offer so I elected against it.

London:

Club (overall record; won/drawn/lost) (record vs. Manchester)

• Arsenal (10/3/5) (2/0/2)
• Chelsea (10/4/4) (2/1/1)
• Tottenham Hotspur (12/2/3) (1/0/3)
• Fulham (4/7/7) (2/1/1)
• Queens Park Rangers (4/5/9) (0/0/4)

Manchester:

Club (overall record; on/drawn/lost) (record vs. London)

• Manchester City (14/3/1) (3/1/1)
• Manchester United (14/3/1) (5/0/0)
• Bolton Wanderers (4/0/14) (1/0/4)
• Wigan Athletic (3/5/10) (1/1/3)

London has achieved 23 points against Manchester sides and Manchester has achieved 32 points against clubs from London. From looking at the records for Manchester, this is clear who is carrying the banner for Manchester. The teams from London are all solid and all of them can not only stay in the Premiership but finish in the top half. Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs are vying for the Champions League spots and I think still have a say in who will be the Champions this year.

I will briefly expound on each club and give my say to where they will end up.

London:

Arsenal: 

I am an Arsenal supporter and I was back in my usual pessimistic disposition at the beginning of the season when they were floundering.  However, I really think Arsene Wenger’s  desperation signings especially Mikel Arteta have brought an experienced man in the center of the pitch similar to what Scott Parker has brought to Tottenham. He’s not Cesc Fabregas nor did most of the Arsenal faithful (well the sane portion) expect him to directly fill the role. He distributes the ball efficiently and effectively in essence letting Arsenal still play their style but he won’t really get on the end of things. I’m not going to say that he isn’t brilliant because in my opinion he is. However, brilliance isn’t always in the form of Messi, Ronaldo, Totti and Rooney. Mertesacker is a big man who can control the air and can be a solid defender to partner with the rock known as the “Verminator” (Thomas Vermaelen). The last thing but certainly not the least which has giving the Gunners new life. RVP. What can I say about him? 16 goals in 18 games. Nothing more needs to be said really. I predict that Arsenal will finish 3rd due to Tottenham’s eventual period of tapering off. I think Chelsea will have plenty more peaks and valleys due to the conundrum that is Fernando Torres.

Chelsea:

Andre Villas-Boas has had to downplay the whole “Second Coming of Mourinho” for a little while but I think his biggest issue is how can he get Fernando Torres to kick into Liverpool form. They are still a bit erratic in my view but the one very bright light for Chelsea is Daniel Sturridge. If he can continue his form and Lampard doesn’t fade off his good run of form as well. They can achieve a firm hold of 4th because I think AVB may have found a offensive solution for this team.

Tottenham Hotspur:

As an Arsenal supporter, it may be quite fitting for me to go on a scathing verbal attack on a sorry excuse for a Premiership club called Tottenham Hotspur. However, I must commend Harry Redknapp despite his vice grip hold on Luka Modric. I also believe Spurs made the most important signing in the League this August by signing Scott Parker. He has been immense for them and I think he really lets Modric and Van der Vaart shine without worry considering Parker will hold the midfield for you. Another important signing was Brad Friedel. The American is an improvement over the erratic, mistake-prone Gomes. Tottenham has always been a team who would have these great runs of form then they drop into a rut usually towards the end of the season. While I don’t think they will drop into that ditch. They will drop a few points and that will give Chelsea and Arsenal the opportunity to pounce. I predict a 5th place finish for them.

Fulham:

Fulham doesn’t have much to offer. They do enough to maintain to middle of the pack finish and stay in the League. I do think they were on an upswing with Mark Hughes who I thought really could have made something more out of them. I do not think Martin Jol is the right man for the job but he’s there. I do think Fulham can make a top half finish if Jol finds away to incorporate Zamora and get him on form. Another key man is Clint Dempsey. He is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League and Arsenal did inquire about him but Fulham’s price was too high. Dempsey who is Fulham’s all time leading scorer in the Premier League already has 6 goals to his name and I think he can achieve a 15 goal season and secure Fulham a spot in the top half. I predict 7th place for them.

QPR:

I think that they have the pieces to achieve a respectable finish as well. I do think that they need to bolster the defense in this January window. They bolstered the offensive side of things yet they still are below average in scoring. I do wonder if Neil Warnock is the answer for them. I think he deserved to manage the side in the Premier League considering he got them there but I do think that if they continue their less than ideal form. Will Warnock stay with the club let alone avoid relegation? I predict that they will stay up and finish the bottom half around 13th.

Manchester:

Manchester City:

Sir Alex’s “noisy neighbors” are making plenty of noise this year especially at Old Trafford (that was a joy to watch). They score goals and concede very little. Their squad depth is quite deep with a rainbow of personalities. It’s amazing what a blank check can do for you. Silva and Yaya Toure are outstanding. Dzeko is on a good run of form. Kompany really commands the back line and Hart is as consistent as they come in goal. Mario Balotelli, why always you? I don’t know. They truly are a team, I enjoy watching. I predict the Premier League trophy to be raised by Vincent Kompany as Manchester City win the League and the city of Manchester is finally its rightful color according to my City supporting friends. That color is Blue.

Manchester United:

Sir Alex’s side has experienced total jubilation and total dejection. The Red Devils have been excellent this season save for a couple matches. They will give City a very stiff challenge in not only the league but in the FA Cup as well. It will be fun to observe the Manchester Derby in the Etihad Stadium. I predict Man U to place 2nd and to give themselves a chance to redeem themselves in the Champions League next season.

Bolton Wanderers:

A team who I believed was doomed from the start and they were lucky to avoid relegation last season. I do think that they were unlucky to have lost Stuart Holden again  who I thought could have definitely help save the season for them. Ivan Klasnic and Chris Eagles have come good for them on the offensive end but their defense is atrocious. They have so far conceded the most goals in the Premiership with 41. I don’t see Coyle’s style of play while mildly attractive going anywhere for them. I predict that they will be relegated by finishing in their current spot of 19th and Coyle gets sacked.

Wigan Athletic: 

The ‘Latics are a tough one to predict because I’ve been predicting them to end their one and only top flight spell for the last couple of years. I have obviously been wrong. They do have a magician at the touchline in Roberto Martinez though his job to stay in the  Premiership has been made quite harder due to the departure of Charles N’Zogbia. They still have a young side who can be quite vibrant in their play. I like James McCarthy, Antolin Alcaraz, Franco Di Santo, Jordi Gomez a lot. You have a decent keeper in Al-Habsi with other serviceable players like Conor Sammon and Gary Caldwell. Hugo Rodallega is a very good player who is one of the few reasons Wigan have lasted as long as they have. I predict Wigan to stay up for one more year and finish in 17th.

Conclusion:

While Manchester are fighting at the top and bottom of the table. I think London right now has an advantage and the teams are better collectively. In my opinion, London is winning this battle this year. I don’t put much stock into regional rivalries but it’s something interesting to think about. If I had to choose which regional team I barrack for

it would definitely be Team London. Who do you support? London, Manchester, the Midlands, even perhaps Wales (I haven’t forgotten about Swansea).  Do you think it even matters? All feedback to my questions or to the article itself is appreciated.

Villarreal 0-2 Real Madrid
0-1 Ronaldo, 2’
0-2 Kaka (pen), 73’

With four wins in four league games and three clean sheets in the bunch, it’s statistically difficult to find fault with Real Madrid’s early season performances. They have ostensibly done everything right in their opening games: they have incorporated all the new faces into the mix, gotten big contributions from old favorites like Raul and Guti, and seen their world record signing get off to a record-breaking start.

Yet there were troubling signs amidst all the success. They didn’t look like much of a team even in their comfortable wins, only playing in sync with each other for brief stretches. The central midfield looked woefully bereft of ideas after injury knocked out Xabi Alonso for a few games. And that defense – god help them, they were trying, but they seemed to have no idea who was supposed to be where, looking particularly susceptible to counterattacks and set pieces.

In short, they looked exactly like they should: like a team full of new personnel searching for its identity. Everyone was adamant in the preseason that it would take time for the superstars to gel into a cohesive unit, but with two of the last three FIFA World Players of the Year, it’s hard not to get carried away in your expectations, hoping to see them set the world on fire from their first moments together. Instead, they showed flashes of brilliance interspersed with long stretches of almost catatonic malaise, uncertain in possession and positioning.

Wednesday’s game against Villarreal showed the beginnings of progress and a hint of what Manuel Pellegrini is trying to establish with this team. It was perhaps their least spectacular performance, a relatively pedestrian 2-0 win away to Villarreal, but the steadiness of their play was more impressive than any of the fireworks of previous games.

That’s not to say that this one didn’t have fireworks of its own, though. It took less than two minutes for Cristiano Ronaldo to get off the mark, sprinting upfield before darting inside and raking one past Diego Lopez to open the scoring. It was the second time in as many games that CR9 scored inside the first two minutes, both times on strikes as fabulous as his own sense of style. As in the game against Xerez, they took their foot off the gas a bit after the early goal, but this time they looked more confident in possession and sure of their ability to dominate the game with or without more goals. They were helped in this regard by the sending off of Gonzalo in the 35^th minute after he picked up his second yellow on a high kick to Kaka’s midsection.

Villarreal got themselves into the game a little more early in the second half, but to their credit, Real’s defense handled the attacks of the Yellow Submarine with considerable fluency. This was no mean feat, considering the back line had to be reshuffled at the last second when Garay suffered an injury in the pre-game warm-up, forcing Sergio Ramos to central defense and Lass Diarra to unfamiliar territory at right back. I’m sure Pellegrini will be thrilled to have both Sergio and Pepe back in the line-up come Saturday when they take on Tenerife, as the Portuguese international has finally finished serving his 10-game suspension for his notorious Getafe meltdown. They’re still not 100%, as Arbeloa is carrying a knee injury, but with Ramos, Pepe, and Albiol, they have the makings of a staunch defense.

Madrid put the game away on a disputable penalty call by Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez in the 73^rd minute. Marcelo made a good run to the end line, and when he attempted to send it back across goal, the ball struck Angel’s raised arm as he slid in to make the challenge. Having already gotten his goal for the game, Ronaldo stepped aside to let Kaka take the PK, which he converted, sending the keeper the wrong way and rolling it into the net. It was the Brazilian’s first goal for the club.

It was really a rather tepid effort by Villarreal in their first match against their former manager, but that shouldn’t take away from the improvements Real appeared to have made in this match. Guti, who started the match with the captain’s armband, helped control play for Madrid and greatly contributed to the effort to stabilize some of the team’s shaky tendencies. Cristiano’s crossing left a lot to be desired, and Higuain is a long way off linking up with his new midfield providers, but all in all it was a promising display. Perhaps I had the storyline wrong. It isn’t so much that this team of superstars is underperforming despite racking up the wins. Rather, they are continuing to secure victories even as they come into their own, surviving the growing pains without sacrificing any points along the way. Now if they could only find a legitimate left back, I could quit complaining entirely.

Real Madrid 5-0 Xerez

1-0 Ronaldo, 1′

2-0 Ronaldo, 75′

3-0 Guti, 78′

4-0 Benzema, 82′

5-0 Van Nistelrooy, 89′

Real Madrid moved to the top of the table Sunday, ahead of Barcelona on goal differential, after a 5-0 rout of Xerez that was a more difficult affair than the final score might indicate. Cristiano Ronaldo netted a second straight brace for his new club and did all the meaningful scoring, giving Real the two-goal cushion upon which they built their late-game goal flurry. Yet even with all the talent in the world – quite literally – wearing white on the pitch, many questions remain for Madrid after a win that was less dominating than one would expect against a newly promoted side.

Despite (or perhaps because of) the quarter of a billion Euros splashed out this summer, Real took the better part of 90 minutes to finally click as a team. Last week I railed against their defensive miscues, but a similar charge can be leveled against their offense, which continues to rake in the goals despite playing a haphazard, individualistic style of football. After Ronaldo scored on a zinger in the first minute, Madrid appeared to go into hibernation for the next 70+ minutes, creating little more than moments of individual brilliance in the midst of mediocre play. Xerez just kept plugging away, little engine that could style, and their midfield did a commendable job of jamming up the works and preventing Madrid from ever finding a rhythm. With no Xabi Alonso to pull the strings in midfield, Real were left with Gago and Lass playing the double-pivot and little creativity flowing from the midfield.

As much was made clear when Pellegrini yanked Raul and Kaka in favor of Granero and Guti, leaving CR9 to partner Benzema as the two out-and-out strikers. All of a sudden the ball was moving more fluidly and play was built up from the midfield to create opportunities for the attacking players. Xerez clung to the one-goal deficit for a surprisingly long time, and the Andalucian side even had a number of chances to tie the game. Their failure to provide any quality service into the box was eventually their undoing, though, and with a quarter of an hour remaining Ronaldo skied in the box to head home Granero’s corner and secure the victory.

After that, the floodgates opened. Benzema whiffed at the ball, missing it completely about eight yards out, leaving it for Guti to clean up and smash past Xerez keeper Renan. The young Frenchman got his shortly thereafter when he drove up the lefthand side, juked the defender out of position just enough, and then blasted a left-footed shot into the net for 4-0 and his first regular season goal with Real Madrid. Even Ruud Van Nistelrooy got in on the act two minutes from time, scoring Real’s fifth on a slotted shot that nutmegged the keeper and rewarded the standing ovation he got from the fans on his introduction.

It was an amazing final fifteen minutes that displayed, in a brief flourish, all that these new-look Galacticos are capable of. But the other 75 minutes painted a more worrying picture, one of a team still struggling to find itself amidst all the new signings and suffering some growing pains in the process. Xerez didn’t possess enough threats to really test them defensively, but in the absence of defensive pressure their offense showed its own lack of fluency for much of the game. Unlike the team’s defensive troubles, though, I’m not exceedingly worried about these offensive hicc-ups. They will be worked out, and in much less time than it will take to get the back line in order. And until all those kinks are ironed out, there will always be a Cristiano or a Kaka or a Benzema etc. etc. to pull another rabbit out of the hat to save them. Today, there were five rabbits to be found, four of them in quick succession, in the dispatching of Xerez. A bit more consistency and a lot more fluency will go a long way toward calming the nerves of the fans who expressed their anxiety as the lack of a second goal weighed heavier and heavier in this one. The goals will quiet the critics for now, but for the sake of La Liga I hope they find their game sooner rather than later.

("How poorly Madrid are defending.")

Espanyol 0-3 Real Madrid
0-1 Granero, 39’
0-2 Guti, 77’
0-3 Ronaldo, 90’

This was a constant refrain from the Spanish language announcers and the theme of most of the match, as the Merengues struggled to hold their nerve at the back, occasionally looking as porous as SpongeBob Square Pants in defense. It should be noted that two of the team’s first choice defenders – Pepe and Sergio Ramos – were out of the line-up, which will take its toll on any squad. But with two Spanish internationals deputizing for them, in Albiol and Arbeloa, Madrid have little to complain about. Regardless of any caveats about missing players, though, the key word for this game was “composure,” which was sorely lacking over much of the pitch against Espanyol.

Despite the clear gap in quality (and paychecks) between the two teams, Espanyol were easily the better side for much of the game. Aside from a bad miss that Metzelder sent over the crossbar, the Periquitos had the best chances in the game’s early stages. Casillas prevented his side from going 1-0 down inside the first half hour when he saved Moises Hurtado’s shot from close range. Hurtado only had such a clear-cut opportunity because of horrible defending by Madrid, who left Luis Garcia completely unmarked near the back post, allowing him a free header back in front of goal to the waiting Hurtado. Fortunately for Los Blancos, Iker’s legs bailed them out and kept the scoreline even. Soon thereafter, Raul Tamudo narrowly missed getting his head onto an Ivan Alonso cross after some more shaky defending.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, they struck, on a lovely little one-two between Kaka and Granero. El Pirata, who was brilliant all game, secured the ball nicely, dropped it off to Kaka, then darted into the box to receive the return pass and blast it past Kameni. It was very similar to the first goal against Deportivo in Jornada 1, when Madrid suddenly found their attacking boots on a double-nutmeg pass by Kaka to a streaking Benzema. That time, the post intervened and Raul was required to clean up the rebound. This time, Granero made no mistake with the shot to give his side the advantage.

The second came only after numerous chances for Espanyol to equalize, when Kaka dribbled around three defenders on the left, got his nose out in front, and laid it off for Guti to slot home. It was a lovely play by Kaka, who looks to be the team’s most important creative player so far. And finally, substitute Cristiano Ronaldo got his first goal from open play for the team when Guti played a perfect through ball to the world’s most expensive (and most precisely coiffed) football player. Ronaldo streaked with it down the right hand side and coolly put the ball between Kameni’s legs for the goal. It was once again refreshing to see his joy and relief at scoring for his new team, as his new price tag has appeared to weigh on him since arriving in Spain. A couple more goals like that, and those worries will be a thing of the past, like his relationship with Sir Alex at the end of his ManU tenure.

So in the end, they got the goals and outclassed an opponent they had every right to beat, but they made it as nerve-wracking as possible along the way. I couldn’t count how many times I grimaced as a ball rolled past numerous Madrid defenders or an Espanyol player dribbled with ease into the heart of the defense. They looked quite unorganized and, consequently, exceedingly vulnerable to the counterattack. At times, even clearing the ball became an exercise in futility and difficult to watch. It was more Espanyol’s profligacy in front of goal than Madrid’s defense that kept them off the scoreboard, but I suppose they’ll take a clean sheet any way they can get it.

In their first two games, Real Madrid have shown both how high they can go and how much they still have to do to attain such heights consistently. That tricky bit of composure is still clearly lacking, and it hurts the defense more than the offense. They have enough astronomical talent in the attack to come out with little unity or plan and still score goals. The back line is not quite so blessed with riches, but even if it were, defense is another proposition altogether. Individual stars can do little on their own to shut down an opponent, instead requiring a coherent system to which all subscribe in order to excel. It is this system which Madrid lacks at this point, and it is this which Pellegrini must correct, and soon, if he wants to content with Barcelona (and keep his job).

To be fair, this is an entirely understandable predicament for a team that was hastily assembled over the summer and which tends to feature between five and eight new faces in the starting eleven. They were always going to need time to gel, and as long as they are winning, they will probably be granted leniency from the demanding home fans. With lots of players resting due to international action midweek and a looming Champions League clash, they were also fielding somewhat of a B team – if such a term can be applied to a line-up that features the likes of Kaka, Benzema, and Xabi Alonso, but you get the picture. San Iker may just be enough to save them until they get their act together, but this can only go on for so long and the defensive deficiencies cannot be bailed out indefinitely by offensive firepower. At some point, Real Madrid are going to have to learn how to defend. I suspect that with time and the return of some much needed familiar faces, they will settle into their roles and play at least competently together, which is not something that could be said about them in this performance.