Rubbish or pathetic? Or both?

Diabolical refereeing decisions, goalkeepers in clogs and pathetic Spurs! It certainly was a weird weekend.

Actually, Tottenham Hotspur were both rubbish and pathetic on the night they suffered their worst defeat, 6-0, in 17 years.

Hugo Lloris started it all but even then it would have been wishful thinking that Erik Lamela, Lewis Holtby and Aaron Lennon were going to dominate possession at the Etihad. Sandro and Paulinho were game triers; expect every Brazilian worth his salt to step up for the rest of the season, gunning to play at the World Cup in their own backyard.

The back four were sloppy and clearly had no clue in attempting to stifle the movements of Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo, on and off the ball.

However, enough about the players, do questions arise over tactics or strategy?

Did we seriously think it was going to be a walk in the park for Spurs at the Etihad?

This Spurs team needs to be coached. Having bought players with different skill sets despite playing in similar positions, one cannot expect things to work without clear direction.

This direction has to be provided by the manager or coach as is known on the continent. There is really no excuse for Andre Villas Boas to send out a team that performs this badly.

Of course, there is no magic formula but a well-coached, well-drilled team can, after spending bundles of money, at least show some semblance of pride.

On the flip side, there is no doubt that Manchester City are nigh-unstoppable at home; having spent an incredible amount of money and boasting one of the league's most miserly defenses mean little.

The questions were always going to be asked sooner rather than later - is AVB making better players of the squad or is it another hit and hope campaign from the young man?

And in Wales, a piece of thuggery is deemed not serious enough for a red for Wayne Rooney. Similarly, after Evertonian Kevin Mirallas's attempt to dismember Luis Suarez, it seems the referees are returning the "man's game" to the thugs! Sorry, the men!

Speaking of dismemberment, this edition of the Merseyside derby had it all - a 3-3 thriller in which Liverpool took the lead twice before grabbing a late equaliser to share the spoils at Goodison Park.

Roberto Martinez's boys played fluid, attacking football, while Liverpool looked dangerous every time Suarez and Coutinho found space to work their magic. Curiously, five of the six goals came directly from set-piece situations, poor defending gifting Coutinho the first (with Lukaku the culprit), then Ross Barkley somehow nipping ahead of Martin Skrtel and nodding the ball on for Kevin Mirallas to equalise.

Mirallas himself was the center of a controversial decision later on as his attempt to separate Luis Suarez's lower leg from his body only resulted in a booking.

Still in the first half, an atrocious mistake by Steven Gerrard resulted in Steven Pienaar sending Romelu Lukaku through on goal, but his shot was well stopped by his Belgian compatriot, an on-rushing Simon Mignolet.

Then Luis Suarez performed his customary weekly miracle, curling a superb free-kick past Tim Howard. One must question Howard's positioning of the wall, and Steven Pienaar's role in the confusion, but no one can doubt the quality of Suarez's finish.

Even more was to come from Everton after the break, seemingly buoyed by every goal conceded to push on and attack further.

Lukaku made amends for his prior narcoleptic mistake in defence; a cool finish from James McCarthy's pull back followed by a thumping header that would have made Everton legend Wlliam "Dixie" Dean proud.

Alas, a famous derby debut win was denied Martinez as a Steven Gerrard free-kick found Daniel Sturridge in acres of space to head home.

A special mention goes out to Tim Howard for his incredible reaction save from Suarez's header.

Occasionally breathless, occasionally full-blooded and definitely a derby for the ages, I must give a shout out to Gerard Deulofeu, whose brilliant performance off the Toffees bench was only slightly marred by his finishing. At only 18, one can expect him to improve exponentially. Either way, the Barcelona loanee is one to watch.

Over in Germany, Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich coolly brushed aside Borussia Dortmund at signal Iduna Park, though Jurgen Klopp will feel that the result hardly reflected the true nature of the tie.

A superb stop by Neuer, once to deny Marco Reus and another to stop Henrikh Mkhitaryan were slightly overshadowed by Mario Gotze's mere presence on the pitch. Indeed, his appearance brought upon howls of derision unlike any that has ever been heard in Dortmund.

To make matters worse, of course Gotze had to be the scorer of the opening goal, a toe poke many budding futsal enthusiasts have attempted to perfect over the years.

Javi Martinez's versatility shone throughout, powerful running dominating the midfield as his strength and poise in defense allowed Bayern to dominate the defensive third.

Gotze, and subsequently Thiago Alcantara's introduction demonstrated just how many options Guardiola has to tinker with - they can beat you through sheer power, and they can beat you through guile and quick interplay - Thomas Muller's finishing touch for Bayern's third goal icing on the cake for a beautiful build up involving Javi Martinez and Phillip Lahm.

We haven't even mentioned Arjen Robben's brilliant finish after a long ball over the top from Thiago Alcantara.

The sheer number of options Guardiola has is frightening. At this rate, it is difficult to see another team halt their attempt to become the first team to defend the European title in the Champions League era. - November 26, 2013.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.