Mark's Mayhem

By Mark Vincent Lincir

If you thought things were bad enough for United States National Team fans who now must endure another six months of life without Stuart Holden…imagine being Bolton fan.

The absolute mauling that occurred at the Reebok over the weekend saw former Bolton player and Chelsea loaner Daniel Sturridge score two goals and garner an assist…IN THE FIRST HALF of Chelsea’s 5-1 thrashing of Bolton. Just when you thought Frank Lampard was out of the mix, he got into things by scoring a hat-trick!

Life without Sturridge and Holden is flat-out brutal for Bolton right now and a look at the Monday morning table sees them sitting 20th…yes, that’s last in the Barclays Premier League. To add to the misery, Bolton can count on losing center half Gary Cahill over the holidays to a bigger and better club and suddenly what was a decent run last season has become a fight to stay in the top flight in 2011/2012.

It’s a massive compliment to American midfielder Stuart Holden who was Bolton’s best player last season at how much they truly miss their center-midfield engine, but it’s a tough pill to swallow knowing that he’s out of commission now for what will surely be most of the season. Owen Coyle’s year will only get more frustrating when the holidays roll around, unless they can open their check book and go shopping for some high priced stars.

Alan Pardew’s Newcastle boys are sitting pretty in 4th place right now after their convincing win at Wolves over the weekend. Jonas even added a goal against a Wolves defense that looked far from organized. Can Newcastle sneak into a spot in Europe for next season? It would make for a great story.

After QPR’s 6-0 thrashing at the feet of Fulham, one has to ask if all teams are cut-out to play a flat-back four? I think not. Put a deep-lying sweeper back there and keep the other team out. Because if it can get that ugly against Fulham, imagine what life will be like against the big-boys now that all teams have found their stride. Clint Dempsey continues to put up points and you have to know that he’s headed somewhere in January for enough $$$ that he can buy two Ferraris.

Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal Sunday solidifies the fact that nobody seems to worry about playing the Gunners anymore and all they can do is look toward the January window to add some much need muscle. Arteta is a good player, but he’s not a Nasri or Fabregas and the life of losing will not sit well with Wenger moving forward.

Napoli’s lambasting of Inter at the San Siro must have been incredibly depressing for Inter fans who have seen their side go from winning everything to being basically guaranteed to win nothing this season. Napoli look very good and are poised to make a good impression in the Champions League this season and are a legit contender for the Scudetto. Even without Cavani, they dismantled Inter 3-0.

In Major League Soccer the playoff race is heating up and I have to ask why coaches of bottom dwellers New England, Toronto and San Jose are still around? It’s the good old playoff system and that’s what I don’t like most about it. In any other league those coaches are gone by the fourth week, but in MLS they get a lifeline until the very end. Not fair to the fans…unfortunately, it won’t change anytime soon.

Mark Vincent Lincir is the author of A SOCCER LIFE IN SHORTS and also blogs daily at Escaping Eddies.