Down to Ten Men

A driving force behind two Premier League title successes and the provider of two match-winning performances at the business end of a triumphant FA Cup run in 2010/11, Yaya Toure has – as much as anyone – been the man to help Manchester City deliver on their potential.

Having more money than you know what to do with is all well and good, but it needs to be spent wisely and in the right areas in order for a cohesive unit to be formed and for tangible rewards to be secured.

Luis Suarez was always going to be a hard man to replace, but few would have thought that Mario Balotelli would fail so spectacularly in this job.

The Italian international was signed as a replacement for Suarez, who was sold to Barcelona for £ 75 million. Balotelli is no stranger to English football and hence he was expected to start scoring goals from the word go. This, however, has not happened as the former AC Milan forward has struggled immensely in front of goal. His style of football has not suited Liverpool and this has seen him score only one league goal this season.

Juventus manager Antonio Conte says that Mario Balotelli could be in danger of losing his spot in Italian national team if he does not continue to play regularly at club level.

The striker has struggled for first-team opportunities in 2015 and has been dropped by manager Brendan Rodgers due to his poor form. Liverpool also appear to be in a position of selling him in the summer, as they do not want to continue with a striker who does not seem to set into the team. Balotelli was not part of the Italian squad announced by Conte for the friendly match against England.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has criticised Mario Balotelli for going against the team rules and taking the penalty – in a recent Europa league match – ahead of stand-in captain Jordan Henderson. Gerrard has missed the last few matches due to an injury and Henderson has been the captain in his absence.

It is a role at Liverpool that the captain should be in line to take the penalty.

It has been a mixed week in a mixed season for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

In many ways, that has been the story of Spurs’ season – two steps forward, followed by one step back.

The highs of a north London derby triumph over arch-rivals Arsenal last Saturday were countered three days later by a potentially costly defeat to fellow top-four hopefuls Liverpool.

They started the campaign promisingly enough, but Mauricio Pochettino took longer than he would have liked to get his philosophy across and his side looked almost confused at times by what they were being asked to do.

Everyone would like to be a Chelsea fan at this point in time. Things are going so well for the London club. They have almost marked their stamp on the Premier League title.

Well, that’s what you have to say about the team which is 7 points clear at the top of the table at a stage when all the teams have played close to 60% of their matches.