BPL Midweek Update & Transfer Craziness

8:41 AM Unknown 0 Comments

As the infamous January transfer window draws to a close, we see many Premier League teams that are desperately signing and selling players to fill holes in squads, or even just to provide backup. When a team like Newcastle parts with their best player, Yohan Cabaye, at the hands of the rich oil tycoons of PSG, you are reminded that money is always everything at the end of the day. As much as the Magpies didn't want to lose the heartbeat of their team, the potential monetary gain was just too juicy to decline. Anyway, let me discuss all the Premier League action this week, and how some of this action wrapped directly into the transfer market.

Manchester United 2-0 Cardiff City. This is a game full of bigger implications; United has just signed one of the best players from their archrival Chelsea (Juan Mata). A brilliant move by the mastermind Jose Mourinho, who waited until his side had already played the Mancunians twice before letting them have his main man. Even more incredibly than the Mata saga is the transfer relationship between Cardiff and Manchester United. Not only did the Welsh club just take two United players on loan for the rest of the season (Fabio and Zaha), but they also stole their youth team manager and turned him into their head coach (Solskjaer).

Southampton 2-2 Arsenal. With transfer speculation swirling around Southampton's young talisman Luke Shaw, the south coast team did well to focus on soccer and get a more than deserved point against the Gunners. Speaking of the North London team, they are going wild this January. Having just obtained Mirko Vucinic on loan, they are desperately trying to get Julian Draxler from Schalke and multiple other players. This time around, manager Arsene Wenger does not seem to want to let the title slip out of his team's grasp.

Tottenham 1-5 Manchester City. Tottenham looks more and more like an English version of Anzhi Makhachkala. In other words, many of their big-name signings from this summer are bailing on them, trying to get transferred away from a team where they never play and don't fit in. This locker room conflict is visible in their recent play, regardless of whether the final scoreline has them winning or losing. If I was Tim Sherwood, I would quickly ship out my three or four unhappy stars and get back to focusing on the game.

Chelsea 0-0 West Ham. Last but certainly not least in terms of transfer implications, Chelsea was held scoreless by a West Ham side that beat the Blues at their own game, 'parking the bus' like I have never seen before. Chelsea has already obtained Mohamed Salah from FC Basel, and have agreed to let Thibaut Courtois stay at Atletico Madrid in exchange for Diego Costa this summer, but their improving attack still failed to find the back of the net yesterday. On the flip side, the Hammers are fighting for their Premier League lives, and a signing like Antonio Nocerino from AC Milan will help them do just that: with a strong center of midfield, consistency will soon follow.