Ups and downs

Expectations have been surpassed or fallen short of as the Premer League season entered it's second weekend and Britain's teams fought for the right to represent the country in Europe. Tottenham Hotspur managed to silence the sniggers coming from the Emirates as they overturned their first leg defeat in Bern. Harry Redknapp's minions overcame what had the potential to be a very nervy affair as they thrashed BSC Young Boys 4-0, with a hat-trick from Peter Crouch sparing their blushes and the numerous 'men against boys' puns that would have been reversed in their defeat. They will face tougher tests ahead - most obviously against holders Inter Milan in the group stage - but they also face Werder Bremen and FC Twente in a tricky group.

There were no such fears about the group stages for the other three English teams. Manchester United face Valencia minus their two best players, Buraspor (?? a Turkish side, so expect plenty of flares on the pitch) and Rangers, who will no doubt continue the recent fine Scottish tradition of failing to win any significsnt European games. Arsenal will be trying not to kick too many balls down the mountain as they head to Braga, while Partizan Belgrade and Shakhtar Donetsk, the last winners of the UEFA Cup before being humbled by Fulham the following year, should not pose too many problems. Chelsea were handed what looks like on of their annual favouable FA Cup runs (when they usually have to beat several Championship and League One teams and then a couple of mid-table Premier sides to reachthe final) as they face Marseille, Spartak Moscow and Zilina, a Slovakian side.

In Europe's second tier competition, which I now unfotunately have to take more than a passing interest in, I was pleased to see Liverpool edge past Trabzonspor - it's just unfortunate they haven't beaten any proper teams yet. Man City's millions saw them ease past FC Timisoara, with forgotten multi-million pound additions Jo and Shaun Wright-Phillips even managing to get some match time. Aston Villa continued to make fans wonder why they are so keen to get into the Champions' League with another insipid display as Rapid Vienna beat them 3-2 in Birmingham. Celtic meanwhile continued to shame Scotland in Europe as they slumped to an embaressing thrashing at Utrecht, with Dundee United and Motherwell doing their part to ensure our northern neighbours would play no part in the Europa League.

In the Premier League there were mixed fortunes and some surprise results. I was obviously disappointed to see Liverpool fall short at middle Eastlands, with a second successive Reina appearing to assist Tevez in getting his second. The team looked naive to set out in a 4-4-2 formation, and though City seemed unambitious by setting out with what looked like three holding midfielders and a back four, they clearly had more urgency and tempo and were deserved winner. Although one point from two games isn't a good start for Liverpool, the team had the same return from these fixtures last year, and had played two good teams. Pundits often speculate that to win the league you must beat the best teams, but the reverse can be true - if a team can win all of its home games and double every team in the bottom ten then that's 90 points, enough to win the league. Although this was a humbling blow for Liverpool, their season can still be defined with success in their other fixtures.

Chelsea though face the opposite dilemma of not having been truly tested yet. They eased past Wigan in a game that showed little promise of repeating last season's upset. It's too early to condemn any team, but Wigan look like they have overstayed their welcome in the top flight - they seem to have been riding their luck for the last three seasons. Each year the club sells its best players, and not neccessarily to better clubs, but often in a sideways move to rivals. Though this may be essential to their finances, it creates a situation whereby every player is not performing for the good of the team, but is rather treating each game as an audition to showcase his talent and aim for a transfer and a pay rise at a different club. This policy was bound to condemn them eventually. Roberto Martinez's men also look lost and bewildered once behind, and instead of making a 1-0 deficit 1-1 they are more likely to make it 4-0 or more.

Arsenal brought Blackpool back down to earth after the previous week's thrashing of Wigan with a 6-0 thumping of their own. The Seasiders are not likely to win these games - certainly not if they try and play open attacking football against a team assembled for ten times to cost on ten times the wages - and will be targetting other fixtures to take points from. Theo Walcott started to look a quality player and not just an impact one, and England fans will be hoping his improvement is both fast and continuous. Man Utd continued to take little joy back up the M6 from Craven Cottage as Fulham salvaged a draw. Nani irked fans with his inconsistancy as a season of poor penalties continued and the visitors could not kill off the game. After Brede Hangeland was no doubt pleased to redeem himself by equalising late on after putting the opposition ahead, and it made a surprise to see Utd dropping points in the closing stages instead of winning them.

West Ham reinforced their credentials as relegation candidates as they crashed to a home defeat by Bolton Wanderers - exactly the sort of game they should be looking to take at least one point from. Avram Grant is already conceding that staying up is the aim in what looks like a difficult season, especially with the Davids undermining his authority and demoralising the squad. West Brom showed that good football can beat mediocre sides and they will be hoping for more similar results to their win over Sunderland - though if they continue this style against the Chelseas and Man Utds there will be more thrashings than narrow victories.

Tottenham may have shown that the Britannia Stadium is not the fortress it was as they ensured Stoke have no points. It took a fluke goal and a contender for goal of the season from the revelation that has happened since moving Gareth Bale a few yards further up the pitch (Glen Johnson take note, perhaps?) and a perfectly good goal being disallowed, but it is these fortuitious breaks that are needed for a successful season. Everton's 4-6-0 formation continued to fail, and without a quality recognised striker there will be more pain ahead in dropped points as they drew 1-1 at Goodison Park with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Permenantly injured Louis Saha and league one success Jermain Beckford will not be good enough to take Everton forward - a step up of two divisions is a big ask for any player.

Birmingham still impress under the shrewd Scot Alex McLeish as they came from behind to beat Blackburn. Ben Foster looked strong in goal apart from his strong penalty save, and his improvement can only be good news for the England team. The surprise result of the weekend came with Newcastle United's thrashing of Aston Villa at St James' Park, with Andy Carrol the player everyone (well, myself at least) regretted not having in their fantasy football XI. Just when it seemed the Villains were going to be fine after Milner moved north to quadruple his salary, they get thrashed by a newly promoted side and dumped out of Europe - strange how much things can change in a week. The Magpies should have enough to stay up this season, and hopefully their fans will be content with that and not demanding Champions' League football already.

But despite all the mixed starts for different teams both home, away and abroad, it's worth remmebereding that it is only the second week of the season. Title can't be won yet - but they can be lost. There will be harder and easier games to come for all, so it is much too soon for any fans to become too disappointed or elated with their team's performance. Lets wait until at least ten games in before starting to make reasonable aims for the remainder of the campaign.

(Picture: The Guardian)