Interactive Chalkboards: Analyse the weekend’s Premier League action

A shot-shy Dimitar Berbatov, why Alessandro Diamanti frustrates at West Ham and Mikel Arteta v Tim Cahill

Berbatov: silky, intelligent and shot-shy

Wayne Rooney’s absence for Manchester United meant Dimitar Berbatov played as a lone striker. While he was heavily involved in United’s build-up, the Bulgarian has none of Rooney’s thrust and only managed to one shot – blocked – in 90 minutes. Although United won, if Rooney’s injury keeps him out against Milan this week, Berbatov will need to perform as well inside the area as he does in the build-up.

Diamanti fails to sparkle for West Ham

Alessandro Diamanti polarises opinions at West Ham like no other player. While he offers the sort of unpredictable creativity and set-piece prowess that few other strugglers possess, he can be maddeningly inconsistent. Nothing sums this up more than his frustrating day against Bolton as he gave the ball away with worrying frequency in a shambolic defeat. Even though he scored West Ham’s consolation goal, his wastefulness was irksome.

Why Cahill’s absence isn’t affecting Everton

When Everton lost Tim Cahill to injury, they gained Mikel Arteta. They struggled without the Spaniard earlier this season, but Cahill’s absence has not hurt them too much. Although Cahill scores goals, he rarely gets involved in play and Arteta ran the show against Hull – and scored twice. With Cahill – and Marouane Fellaini – Everton tend to rely upon long balls too much. Packing the midfield with the likes of Arteta, Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman makes Everton an attractive side to watch.

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Everton 5-1 Hull City | Premier League match report

Phil Brown’s previous visit to Merseyside ended with a vote of confidence from the Hull City board following a 6-1 destruction by Liverpool. His days of being on the brink of the sack may have passed, but the threat to Hull’s Premier League status remains very much alive after this stroll for Everton.

Mikel Arteta orchestrated the return to winning ways for David Moyes’s side, who have now won six successive league games at Goodison Park – their best sequence in four years. He scored twice and forced Richard García to head into his own net. Despite a superb equaliser and first league goal for Tom Cairney, the visitors were a distant second-best throughout and only Everton’s generosity spared them from a heavier defeat than on the opposite side of Stanley Park.

Hull can at least take solace in the return of Jimmy Bullard, the man upon whom survival arguably rests, in his first start since December. As Arteta has discovered, it can be a slow journey back to form and fitness after a serious knee injury but the Spaniard, in his finest display since his return from an 11-month absence, is getting there.

Arteta gave Everton an early lead when Leon Osman released Yakubu wide on the left and, from the Nigerian’s inviting cross to the back post, the midfielder ghosted in unmarked to despatch a deceiving volley past the keeper at the near post. Yakubu then won and wasted a controversial penalty when he fell under a challenge from Kamil Zayette but stroked a lazy, arrogant penalty that Boaz Myhill saved comfortably. As well he should have.

Yakubu’s miss seemed to assume added significance when Phil Jagielka, another player starting after a long-term knee problem, headed Bullard’s free-kick clear and Cairney swept an outstanding volley beyond the keeper from the edge of the area. But a fine collective move, involving Osman, Victor Anichebe and a nonchalant back-heel from Steven Pienaar, prised apart the Hull defence and enabled Arteta to roll his second into the far corner.

García headed into his own net attempting to clear Arteta’s chip over Myhill in the second half, before Landon Donovan, on his scheduled final appearance at Goodison before returning to LA

Thursday’s football transfer rumours: Neil Warnock to QPR?

Today’s piffle loves the smell of Dulux in the morning

Woo-woo. Dum-chum de-de de-de de. Woo-woo. Please allow The Mill to, er… Dum-chum de-de de-de de. Woo-woo. Something about driving a tank when the bodies stank. Dum-chum de-de de. Woo-woo.

For reasons that aren’t immediately clear, this morning the Mill feels a little different about the biggest story in the history of not-that-big stories painfully overinflated by righteous and self-serving gusts of hot air heated solely by the heart from hot air generated by pure hot air.

Whereas yesterday The Mill felt itself ranged squarely shoulder-to-shoulder, cheek-to-cheek alongside Cheryl, handsome dancer Derek, the dirty-looking blonde one from Girls Aloud and the perfumed-handkerchief-dabbing moral arbiters of the filthy red-tops. Today it has started to feel a slight dilution of its frothing indignation towards the world’s most evil left-back.

The Mill suspects it has something to do with this morning’s Sun. One of these people going about their business in a French medical clinic is behaving really quite strangely. But which one?

“ASHLEY Cole refused to say sorry for betraying Cheryl yesterday after The Sun tracked him down to a swish sports clinic in south west France. We asked him the question the whole nation wants to ask: “How could you?” But the shaken Chelsea star could only reply: “I just can’t talk about that.”

“Cole, having treatment on his broken ankle at the clinic in Capbreton, a seaside town near Biarritz, tried to hide behind an exercise machine when challenged by our reporter. And wearing a supportive sandal on his injured foot, he hobbled away on crutches after refusing to comment further.”

The Mill asks you. You get the bleeding Eurostar. You blag your way in through the gates. You then accost a weeping man on crutches and distract him from flexing his toes repeatedly while listening to sad power ballads on his chrome-plated iPod. And all you get in return is a polite refusal to discuss the most traumatic few days of his life.

Also, there’s this:

“LOVE rat Ashley Cole has blamed his mother-in-law over his marriage break-up. He told pals that life with Cheryl went downhill when her mum Joan, 50, moved in to keep an eye on her.

“A source close to Ashley was last night reported to have said their sex life dwindled to virtually nothing.
They added: “It’s a bit of a passion killer to have your mum in the house.”"

The Mill was rather surprised to read these words and would like to extend a personal invitation to Joan Tweedy to infiltrate The Mill’s own dank and cobwebbed crawl space in the eaves of fashionable .Co.Uk Integrated Towers in London’s horrible Kings Cross any time she fancies it. Blurry mobile phone photographs of The Mill’s ancient, sodden, mildewed sewn-in smalls are available on request.

Meanwhile in the world of almost non-existent actual concrete flimsy football tittle-tattle The Mirror says Arsène Wenger is “keeping tabs on” the 18 year-old Ajax starlet Christian Eriksen, who has been recommended by Dennis Bergkamp.

Arsenal have also given a trial to the 17 year-old Icelandic Whizzkid Ingolfur Sigurdsson, who plays, sadly, not in goal for, but inmidfieldfor Knattspyrnufelag Reykjavikur. Robin Van Persie is going to be fit for the last six games of Arsenal’s “title push” according to Bert Van Marwijk, who says: “I spoke to Robin on the phone last week and he is improving all the time and feeling better. You can hear it in his voice that he feels he is improving.” Hopefully this involved him saying at some point “I feel I am improving”.

Wayne Bridge is “in turmoil” over his expected England call up this weekend. He’s still too cross to kick a ball around next to John Terry, because Terry had sex with his ex-girlfriend, who had previously split up with Wayne Bridge, reportedly in part because of his own “philandering ways”.

Next week: fur singlet-clad Wayne Bridge drags woman through village by her hair because that shirt’s not going to iron itself. Roberto Mancini says his job is completely safe. “I don’t feel under pressure at all,” he said, speaking from beneath a small nest of antique stain occasional tables.

Neil Warnock is being “coy” over whether he’s about to leave Crystal Palace. “Can I deny speculation about going to QPR? No,” he said, before taking to the stage to sing “Happy Birthday Mr President” in a strapless ball gown while making a range of creepily child-like cooing kissy kissy noises.

In the Daily Mail Hull’s Kamil Zayatte says he’s going to leave in the summer. “I see myself at a bigger club than Hull. If I could land a move to Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea it would make all Guineans proud of me,” he said, making all Guineans feel at first amused and slightly protective and then perhaps even a little worried. In an EXCLUSIVE it turns out Bridge will refuse to shake hands with Terry when Man City play Chelsea this weekend.

The Mirror also reports that Rafael Benítez was asked why he’s so fat by Romanian journalists yesterday. One cheeky scamp asked: “Mr Benítez, the last time I saw you was at the 2005 Champions’ League final, and your, erm, silhouette seems to have changed since then. Why is that?”

Benitez replied: “It is the stress of having to answer so many questions from the press. Thank you and goodnight,” before clearing the soup bowls away, and going into the kitchen to flob in the beef Wellingtons. Jermaine Pennant has been sent home from training by Real Zaragoza after arriving late for the third time in two weeks. And the Portsmouth defender Dusko Tosic is going to leave on a free transfer having never played in a league game, which is probably all for the best.

In The Sun Ryan Babel has “vowed to knuckle down after a heart-to-heart with boss Rafael Benítez”. Babel said: “I have had a good talk with the manager and I know what I have to do.

“That is what I am going to concentrate on. I just have to try to be patient, keep working hard and doing my best.”

Landon Donovan has “hinted” he might like to make a permanent move to Everton. “I think it’s been an incredible experience and away from football, the people have been extremely nice,” he said, implying that English football might contain people who are something other than “incredibly nice”.

And according to Goal.com Kansas City Wizards wizard Luis Gil has been signed by Real Salt Lake.

“Real Salt Lake provides a prime environment for the development of young players,” says the excitable, blazered wise-cracking, golf-playing, sample-carrying, Cadillac-driving, wife-flirting, squirtie-water-flower-wearing overly friendly American man in a suit Garth Lagerwey.

“The dream of venturing onto the Rio Tinto Stadium turf will surely inspire Luis to work hard every day in training. We have a talented, veteran team and we have no expectation that any young player will easily crack our championship lineup, though our hope is that Luis is eventually able to earn minutes in the years ahead,” he added, sounding like a demented alien.

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