Almost 25 years, and it's worth watching Arsenal v Liverpool again!

Is it really almost 25 years since Michael Thomas lifted the ball over Bruce Grobbelaar to give Arsenal a 2-0 win and the league title at Liverpool? It doesn't seem like yesterday, but I can't believe it's from the 1988-89 season.

Those two meet again this weekend with far more at stake! Just kidding, but it is the game in the Premier League this weekend. Arsenal are at home and are two points clear of Liverpool (and Chelsea), although some people are already questioning if Arsenal can maintain their strong start after losses to Dortmund and Chelsea - neither of which was in the league.

Arsene Wenger wants to win the league again, make no mistake. I think he knows the Champions League is out of their reach unless they sign another striker, a 'keeper and another centre-back. So the league it is, and they have looked good so far. Aaron Ramsey has been immense, making Jack Wilshire look a shell of the player he was expected to be this year - Wilshire's struggles to get a starting place will help him in the longer term, but there's no doubt it's Ramsey and Mesut Ozil's team right now.

Liverpool are humming, Suarez and Sturridge are the league's two top scorers, they create a load of chances and have good support players competing for places. They look stronger at the back, although I still fancy an error or two from Skrtel or Kolo Toure.

Liverpool don't need to dominate the ball like Arsenal and will try and hit the Gunners on the break at the Emirates, but Arsenal have been a little more ruthless with their chances this season. As long as Giroud stays on, they have the upper hand in my opinion, but Liverpool will score - they just pose too many attacking threats right now, and are brimming with confidence.

It's by far the most interesting game of the weekend in the Premier League, although Everton v Spurs on the Sunday should be good viewing too.

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Roma play tonight and Sunday, and will be hoping to go 11 for 11. They are fun to watch and aren't conceding goals. It's what you want your team to be, but then who doesn't want to watch Totti win games - apart from fans of Lazio, Inter, Juve, Sampdoria, oh wait, only neutrals and Roma fans love Frank.

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Gareth Bale scored in midweek, twice. He's worth the money. He's not, he's still a very good player, but I reckon I'd have 5 or 6 in La Liga by now. Barcelona are averaging 3 goals a game and are still unbeaten - don't expect either of the big two to lose anytime soon.... Zlatan is out injured, so no need to watch Ligue Un! Just kidding, Falcao and Cavani are mustard too... Go to a Bundesliga game, don't watch it on TV. If you can't, search for a video of teh Dortmund fans at the Emirates last week - it'll give you goosebumps. 

Why bother with a 'keeper, just water the goalmouth!

Looks like it was going to hit the post anyway!

Probably just the video quality, but the rest of the pitch looks pretty dry - maybe the 'keeper couldn't make it to the bathroom in time - don't fancy heading that ball afterwards!

The League Cup - why not win a trophy?

Ask West Ham fans, Stoke, Leicester, Sunderland or Southampton fans - they want to win it. Swansea won it last year and are enjoying themselves against teams like Valencia (and hammering them to boot).

It may not be much to Chelsea or Man United fans, but I don't see why Spurs, Liverpool or Arsenal don't go all out to win it.

It's the Capital One Cup now, but has been the Milk Cup, Littlewoods Cup, Rumbelows Cup (or something like that), but let's call it the League Cup.

It's a trophy. A piece of silverware.

You don't get one for 14th in the league, or 2nd, 3rd or 4th for that matter. The Champions League is great and staying in the Premier League pays a fortune, but fans don't remember teams unless they won something.

I bet Birmingham fans love the fact they beat Arsenal in the final in 2011, and hate that they got relegated and are struggling in the Championship now. Wigan won the FA Cup last year and got relegated, and also don't look like coming straight back up. But they won a trophy, and they will get back to the top flight - as will Leeds, Sheffield United, Wednesday and Burnley. Fans have short memories, but most would take a win at Wembley even if it means playing Scunthorpe away next season.

Those teams have history and the way to measure that is trophies. Playing in the top flight is great, but will Stoke fans look back in 10 years and say how great the Premier League was, or would they love to have a Cup win to remember this (relatively) successful period in their history?

Arsene Wenger has got Arsenal into Europe for 15 or so consecutive seasons, but they haven't won anything for a while. Fans want to win, not qualify for Europe again just to lose in the quarter-finals. I can't guarantee it, but I think most Arsenal fans would take a League Cup win over bowing out of the Group stages of the Champions League this year. Playing Napoli, Dortmund, Barca or Bayern is huge, but winning something/anything (except the Emirates Cup) is huge.

So go all out to win everything, fielding weaker teams isn't the way to go - any trophy is better than playing for mid-table every year.

Pelotas' Ponderings: Reflection on historic win in NY

Recovery ends after fans, team celebrate first trophy

(To view additional photos by Danissa Alvarado from Sunday's match, click here)

                                                     
                                           Photo: Danissa Alvarado

As Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" served as the soundtrack to celebrations in and around the stadium Sunday evening, many supporters old and new were seen high-fiving, hugging, crying and exhaling profusely. Was this real?

For it was the MetroStars side that was formed for the league's inception in 1996 that gave fans a chance to connect, assemble, unite and support a top-flight side that hasn't been seen since the infamous Cosmos spectacle that brought massive crowds to the old Giants Stadium in the 70s and early 80s.

The city's own Carly Simon had her "Nobody Does It Better" track blared around the stadium's speakers at the conclusion of all Cosmos matches at home. The Cosmos won titles, brought in superstars and were the talk of the town until the party ended in 1984.

It was natural that Major League Soccer would've wanted a revival of New York's famous team by bringing back the Cosmos but it's been widely discussed that bureaucratic bickering prevented it from happening. Enter the MetroStars.

To say the Metros endured a tumultuous relationship with the soccer gods would be an understatement. Anything and everything occurred on and off the field leading to the "That's So Metro" phrase that caught on with supporters, casual and hardcore. 

The Metros were able to ink well-known players and provided home-based players as well in all of its years but that elusive MLS Cup--hell, any trophy for that matter--was on everyone's minds from equipment manager to the front office to the most ardent of all supporters.

In 2006, when Red Bull came calling to purchase and rebrand the team to its namesake product, debates ensued. The team lost some fans and in-fighting reached new levels but management made its attempt to continue its focus on the field, splashing out cash for Juan Pablo Angel, Shakira and Wyclef Jean. OK, maybe, the latter two wouldn't solve its trophy aspirations but the Austrian empire wanted to show it meant business.

Before Red Bull Arena finally opened in 2010, a team video showed Angel gawking at its surroundings and boasting about how the environment would do wonders for any team and its quest for professionalism and potential projects for dominance.

The latter years up to Sunday provided glimpses of a "superclub," as former general manager Alexi Lalas dubbed them before unofficially retracting and labeling his next employer, the Los Angeles Galaxy, as the rightful owner to that name. For now. 

The run to MLS Cup in 2008 was a Cinderella story as they were crowned Western Conference champions but came up short under the California sunshine to Argentine legend Guillermo Barros Schelotto and his Crew side. Nevertheless, away wins at Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake showed the league's parity and although the chance to lift silverware came so crushingly close, it was possible. Something was missing.

When favoritism towards European managers died this year, native New Yorker and Metros/Red Bulls ex-backline roughneck Mike Petke was appointed manager after the team's flirtations with overseas candidates. He made sure that Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill knew the ins-and-outs of the long-suffering club. The team combined to produce a chemistry that helped it win its first trophy over the weekend in front of its dedicated supporters, all of whom partied well into the night.

Tonight, the playoffs begin. Ten sides will vy for MLS Cup. For the first time in the league's short history, New York's local side is the team to beat.

Can't tackle him? Just hump him instead!

Porto against Benfica, 3-2 and you need the ball back. What do you do? Smash the guy and give away a free-kick or just start humping the guy?

Not really sure what to say about this except the Porto player looks like a giant for some reason.

Allardyce mocking Flores? Why not?

Chico Flores is a big guy. So is Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez - and if they were small guys, they still deserve to be laughed at and mocked when they dive.

Maybe Sam Allardyce was laughing at his cunning plan to sneak into the Swansea dressing room and eat all the post-game food while other people were sleeping watching the 0-0 draw, but I hope he was laughing at another pathetic dive.

Perspective from the Geezer; Torres Back? Or Lucky?

Torres is back, we all knew he had to break his drought. Form is temporary, class is permanent, etc. etc.

Give it a rest. While she may not have been able to get there, my grandmother would have scored that 90th minute goal. He anticipated the mistake, finished nicely, but it doesn't put him back on form. You can say he set up the first goal, but counter that with the sitter that he missed.

But I'm happy for him, and hope he gets a run in the team and starts to rediscover his best - but the media really needs to tone it down. I should call the blog the Perspective Geezer.

As for Joe Hart, get used to some splinters from the bench. A few too many mistakes recently, and even if this one wasn't really down to you, your defenders are nervous around you right now.

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Manchester United won a game and sit 2 points behind City and 8 off the top. Crisis over? No, there was never one in the first place. There was a huge overreaction from the United players, fans and David Moyes after their 3-2 comeback win over Stoke. Yes, the same Stoke that had scored 4 goals in 8 games prior to Saturday.

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We should be talking about Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. They all stepped up over the weekend to win games that have troubled them over the past few seasons. Arsenal took care of Crystal Palace, when maybe last year Arteta's (harsh) sending off would have seen them crumble. Liverpool scored some top quality goals and have two strikers that are really on top form. They are enjoyable to watch, can't defend, but can score easily - they may be a little short in the title run, but the foundations are there. And then there's Chelsea. Mourinho is a nutcase, but plays his role really well. He jumped into the crowd, celebrated like a real fan and gets the juices flowing. He's the pantomime villain, and loves it. And it's great, how can you not like him, or hate him - and both work.

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Sunderland won, but will still struggle. Palace have lost 8 of 9 (only beating Sunderland), and then there's going to be one other in my opinion. There are plenty of candidates, but Norwich, Cardiff and Hull are my picks at the moment, although it's still very early.