Arsenal
Another familiar season is brewing at the Emirates, one during which Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal offer promise of a new dawn, shining light on the style Arteta is desperate to implement, and then see that promise slip away in their subsequent games. They lost their first three league games, pushing Arteta to crisis point, won their next three (a run that ended with a brilliant north London derby performance against Tottenham), slumped again against Brighton and Crystal Palace and on Friday night produced their most cohesive display of the season.
During those high points, you can see things coming together. Emile Smith Rowe zips and nips and does his best Phil Foden impression, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang presses from the front and scores, Aaron Ramsdale starts moves with excellent passes through the lines and their central midfield possesses both physicality and style. If they performed as they did against Aston Villa every week, Arsenal would be probable top-six finishers.
But they don’t. Fast forward to next weekend and we’re as likely to be cursing Arsenal’s limp defeat to Leicester as we are to be praising them for their steel. And that’s what makes Arteta and his team so difficult to judge. Arsenal have now gone six games unbeaten in the league, the third-longest run in the division behind Manchester City and Liverpool. And we still can’t be sure if they’re an excellent team being held back by their novice manager or a work in progress slowly being refined by him.
Aston Villa
What has happened to Aston Villa’s defending? Before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s opener for Tottenham at the start of the month, Dean Smith’s side had conceded four goals in their previous 500 league minutes (and three of those were against a Chelsea team that Villa matched for long periods). It’s now eight goals conceded in their last 243 minutes.
Against Wolves, Villa were undone by an opponent who resorted to launching aerial balls into the box and panicked Smith’s side. Clearances were sliced or mishit, second balls were lost and Villa fell apart. On Friday night, they were blown away in the first 30 minutes and looked scared every time Arsenal attacked at pace.
Worryingly, Smith admitted that Villa were dominated physically by an Arsenal side that are hardly famous for their aggression and fight; he accused the players of lacking fight at half-time. Tyrone Mings is suffering a period of poor form and that appears to be sowing seeds of discomfort around his defensive colleagues, but it goes beyond that. Smith suggested a hangover from the Wolves defeat could be a cause but that isn’t a viable excuse given the preparation time for the game and Smith knows it.
Perhaps this is simply a case of shifting expectations – Villa are closer in points to the top four than the bottom three. But Smith is aware of the accusations that his side have slumped considerably after their brilliant start to last season (eight wins in their last 26 league games). He won’t solve it without addressing this new defensive leakiness.
Brentford
That’s twice in two games that Brentford have more than matched their opponents at home and come away with no points. When asked in his press conference what he was saying to Kasper Schmeichel immediately after full-time, manager Thomas Frank replied: “That he was f__king lucky”.
That’s a fairly accurate summary of the previous two hours, and sometimes you can over-analyse these things. Frank will be slightly irked that his team are failing to take their chances and earn what their performances merit. As he said after the match (after the sweary anecdote), Brentford “hammered” a team in the first half that finished in the top five of the Premier League last season.
Brighton
I’m fully aware that this is going to appear deeply patronising to a team that lost 4-1 at home, but there was so much to admire in Brighton’s second-half performance against Manchester City. Having been blown away by three goals in the opening 32 minutes, it would have been so easy to simply ease off after half-time and accept their lot. Other Premier League managers would have accepted their fate.
But Graham Potter tried something different. He told his players that City would likely ease their way into the second half, given the comfort of their lead. That created a window for Brighton to play aggressive, front-foot, high-pressing football. If Brighton were unlikely to get anything out of the game, they could at least give their supporters something to cheer and Manchester City something to think about.
And that’s exactly what they did. City were forced to resort to long clearances and panicky defending. Ederson conceded a penalty. Brighton did ease off slightly after their first goal, as if their point had been made, but for 25 minutes they made life more difficult for Pep Guardiola’s side than most teams have this season.
And Guardiola recognised that spirit. He has long been an admirer of Potter’s style. “Big compliments after they change in the second half they played really good,” Guardiola said. “It is so hard to play against them for 90 minutes. Against another opponent the game would be over [at 3-0], against this team it is not over.”
In a separate post-match interview, Guardiola described Potter as the best English manager. You might cynically conclude that there isn’t much competition, but it is still high praise indeed from one of the modern greats.
Burnley
Burnley supporters waited years for their club to sign a foreign flair player (no, honestly, they really did. I think their last one before summer 2021 might have been Jean-Louis Valois on a free transfer from Clyde in January 2005). Now they’re understanding just what they might have been missing.
In 214 minutes this season, Cornet has scored 43 per cent of Burnley’s goals, has the second-highest expected goals figure of any Burnley player and has got 71 per cent of his shots on target (no other Burnley player is above 50 per cent). Those goals have also earned Burnley half of all their league points. They really do need a win soon.
Chelsea
Of course, any praise must be caveated with a double dose of “it’s only Norwich”, but it was still remarkable to see just how fluent Chelsea were in attack despite missing an array of their key forwards: Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic. Kai Havertz started as the nominal centre forward and didn’t even contribute a goal or assist despite Chelsea scoring seven.
But then that has been the theme of Chelsea’s season to date. They can boast a truly extraordinary variety of goalscorers: their 30 goals in all competitions have been scored by 17 different players. Ben Chilwell had barely played until a fortnight ago and he’s now Chelsea’s joint-second top scorer. Mason Mount needs a goal and scores three. Callum Hudson-Odoi needs a goal and scores his first since January.
This is the telltale sign of a club totally at peace under its manager, where players who are left out of the starting XI are not disengaged or disappointed, but motivated to try and impress their manager and become a more crucial part of this highly-performing machine. And thus when they do get a chance, they seize it with both feet.
Crystal Palace
Another match after which Crystal Palace supporters will be wondering what their team has to do to win. They have conceded stoppage-time equalisers against Arsenal and Brighton, recovered from an awful first half against Leicester and ceded another lead against Newcastle before having a late winner ruled out by VAR.
But there is a trend forming. Palace are dominating possession under Patrick Vieira, and on Saturday recorded their highest ever possession in a Premier League match since Opta started collecting the data in 2003. But at times they are drifting dangerously close towards possession for its own sake.
Palace’s greatest asset in attack is their pace – Michael Olise, Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze (when back to fitness) – that can service a central striker. But safe possession allows opposition teams to sit in deep and reduce the space that allows quick players to flourish. Against Newcastle, Palace had possession and territory (and deserved to win the match) but were unable to convert that into the number of clearcut chances such dominance should provoke.
Only Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool have lost fewer games than Palace this season – there’s an obvious argument for optimism. But Vieira must understand that possession can only ever be a factor in Palace’s improvement, not the solution itself. When Eze is back, would they not be better sacrificing the ball a little more to play on the counter?
Everton
Well, well. Go on Twitter on Saturday evening and you may have spotted that #RafaOut was one of the top trends in the United Kingdom. Watch the highlights of Saturday’s defeat and see Goodison’s reaction to Watford’s fifth goal to witness the personification of a hashtag; the sound of chairs clattering as several thousand people stood to leave was louder than the away supporters cheering.
This was a sorry blow for Benitez. His managerial ethos is founded upon a strong defence that is demonstrated best when his teams are defending a lead. More shocking even than Everton conceding four times in 15 minutes, that saw home victory warp into shambolic heavy defeat, was just how few players had in their final third when Watford surged forward. Poor Michael Keane was left trying to cover two or three players like a novice babysitter asked to look after triplets.
Benitez was never welcomed at Goodison. The abusive banners, the social media chatter, the boos at half-time of his first game; all were reflective of a relationship that seemed to be half-broken before it even began. That did not – and still does not – condemn Benitez to failure here, but it does make life far tougher.
And it makes defeats like this one far more significant than they might otherwise be under a different manager. It does make you wonder whether Newcastle United’s owners might be wise to have a quiet word in an Everton ear this week and find a solution that could work for all parties.
Leeds United
The notion that a season can change in one moment is a romantic one. It can only really be judged in hindsight, which rather undermines its very idea: it’s how you respond to the important moment that matters rather than the moment itself.
And Marcelo Bielsa wasn’t having any talk of romance on Saturday evening. He preferred to focus on two points dropped and another lacklustre Leeds performance. Bielsa suspended his dogmatism to change Leeds’ formation to account for absent players, but saw only meagre improvement against a Wolves team that invited Leeds onto them after taking the lead.
But let’s succumb to romance for a second. The three seconds after Rodrigo’s late, late penalty hit the net, when Elland Road’s stands were filled with supporters who jumped and climbed over each other like a zombie horde, reflected the magnitude of the result. A draw hardly takes Leeds out of trouble, but a defeat would have caused another week of great panic. Now they must move on from here.
Leicester City
A brilliant week for Brendan Rodgers. Raucous victory over Manchester United, a comeback win in Europe that boosts their chances of qualification and then victory over Brentford that owed plenty to good fortune and Leicester’s grit.
The obvious setback was Jamie Vardy leaving the pitch with a leg injury (and Vardy doesn’t leave the pitch early unless something is seriously wrong), but even then Rodgers will believe that Patson Daka can step into the breach. Daka stretches play in the same way as Vardy and is a selfless striker. Playing him up front with Kelechi Iheanacho will be the plan if Vardy misses any time.
Finally, the cherry on the top of Rodgers’ cake is that James Maddison scored his first goal since February just before his manager was intending to take him off. For all the panic (and I’ll happily admit to being a little concerned), Leicester are now three points off the top four in a bunch that includes Arsenal and Manchester United.
Liverpool
Their victory at Old Trafford was clearly overshadowed by the wretchedness of Manchester United’s performance. The truth is that Liverpool were careless in midfield and haphazard in defence during the first half and yet did not need to be anything better because United were so open that they created – and took – chances to score. After the break, Liverpool simply went through the motions to a soundtrack of “Oles”.
But it’s worth dwelling again on just how prolific Liverpool’s attack has been this season. To adjust the figures from this piece: in Liverpool’s first 13 matches of this season, their four frontline attackers (Salah, Mane, Firmino, Jota) have scored 31 goals. Jurgen Klopp can now seemingly pick them in any combination and be confident they will click and can also be sure that they are opposition-proof. They’ll score against Norwich and they’ll score against Manchester City.
After a summer during which Klopp was forced to defend the club’s decision not to spend wantonly on his squad, he is being proven right again. Liverpool are in the best attacking form of Klopp’s tenure and this is going to be a fascinating title shootout.
Manchester City
Manchester City are entering relentless mode again. We’ve made the mistake before of being sucked into their form only to be caught off guard by a slip-up (Southampton 0-0, loss to Paris Saint-Germain), but when Pep Guardiola’s side produce 20-minute periods of relentless pressing, passing-and-moving and chance creation, there is no team in the world that can stop them.
And this is the argument against them buying a centre forward in the summer, or at least one of the two that seemed most likely (Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo). Those two strikers both act as a lightning rod for their team’s play, a magnet in the penalty area and on the edge of the box.
But without a striker, City become a different beast. It creates a space for an attacking midfielder or wide forward to fill, and there is no better team in the world at making timely runs from attacking midfield than City. Sometimes it’s Phil Foden, sometimes Jack Grealish, sometimes Riyad Mahrez, sometimes Raheem Sterling, sometimes Ferran Torres and sometimes Bernardo Silva. Watch City’s matches and spot the number of times an attacking player has ten yards of space close to – or inside – the penalty area. It’s black magic.
Manchester United
This column has discussed the future of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer almost on a weekly basis given Manchester United’s meek start to the season. On Sunday, we saw the endgame of Solskjaer at Old Trafford. He surely cannot survive this.
Thoughts inevitably will turn to who is next, and there is no natural fit. Antonio Conte will play a back three and that hardly suits United’s overload of attacking players. Zinedine Zidane has experience managing stars, but there are doubts about whether he can succeed away from Real Madrid. Mauricio Pochettino might seek a route out of Paris’ pressure, but there would be doubts about his last two years.
But doubts about Solskjaer’s replacement are not a good enough reason not to sack him. Preferably before he burns through all of his goodwill with United supporters. This has gone too far for too long.
Newcastle United
An improvement in result, if not style. Graeme Jones’ Newcastle were very similar to Steve Bruce’s Newcastle, sacrificing possession and territory and hoping to use set pieces and one-man counter attack (Allan Saint-Maximin) to create moments of danger. That’s no huge surprise; Jones was Bruce’s assistant, was often seen giving in-game instructions and by the end was understood to be running training sessions too.
As it happens, Saint-Maximin had his worst afternoon of the season so far, which is potentially meaningful given his emphatically fond farewell to Bruce. Callum Wilson produced a piece of individual brilliance to earn Newcastle a point, but they were fortunate for Christian Benteke’s profligacy and a VAR intervention to save their point.
Newcastle’s owners appear to have given Jones this and the Chelsea games to oversee proceedings before bringing in their own man, but each winless game creates more pressure upon the appointment. Get it wrong – and some of the names mentioned would certainly constitute a gamble – and the richest owners in the world will be battling to keep their club in the top flight.
Norwich City
The worst of the worst, a performance so bad, and a defeat so emphatic, that it provoked questions not just about Norwich’s season but the futility of their entire existence. Norwich offered no fight in failing several goals behind and then made a series of stupid decision to compound to make matters worse. Chelsea barely had to get out of second gear to score seven times.
Firstly, Daniel Farke should be close to the sack if Norwich believe they can still stay in the Premier League. He has proved himself incapable of making Norwich resilient enough to stop their opponents scoring regularly and incapable of making them dangerous in attack. He has had two goes at this now; this season could be even worst than their last relegation.
Alternatively, Norwich might be happy with their lot under Farke: They are one of the top 25 clubs in the country and are rewarded handsomely for that status through parachute payments and broadcasting revenues; Farke has established them at that level. If you have a problem with them doing that because it’s boring, blame the financial inequalities between the top and bottom of the Premier League, Premier League and Championship and within the Championship thanks to parachute payments.
But there are two things I can’t get on board with. The first is that Norwich are somehow wasting everyone’s time. That argument is only a short jump from an argument for manufactured merit spots for promotion that in turn is the cousin of the European Super League plot. Again, don’t blame the player blame the game.
The second is the accusation that Norwich didn’t even try to stay up this season, as if they did little to nothing in the transfer market. They kept hold of Emi Buendia in the Championship through the implicit understanding that he could leave in the summer after promotion. They then spent £60m on seven permanent signings and four loans. If anything, the fair accusation is that Norwich bought too many players, not that they didn’t buy enough.
Even so, that’s hardly a defence of Farke, this miserable start to the season or Norwich’s longer-term performance in the Premier League. They conceded more goals in 90 minutes on Saturday than they have in their last 26 league matches combined. Fair play to the supporters who travelled to Stamford Bridge on Saturday. They would be forgiven for thinking twice next time.
Southampton
We’ll get onto the data in a second, but Southampton supporters don’t need a section in a Premier League column to tell them that their club is struggling to finish their chances. Just watch Nathan Redmond’s inexplicable miss on Saturday on loop until it becomes scorched into their retinae.
Southampton rank ninth in the Premier League for shots taken this season. They also rank ninth for expected goals, which suggests that the issue isn’t that they are attempting their shots from low-percentage areas. But they rank 18th for shot accuracy (the percentage of shots they take that are on target) and 18th for goals scored. Everton have had six more shots than Southampton this season; they have scored more than double their number of goals (15 vs 7).
Ralph Hansenhuttl will point to Southampton conceding two goals at home as the reason for their dropped points. But Burnley were given hope in their pursuit of an equaliser by Southampton’s profligacy. It will come back to haunt them.
Tottenham
Nobody wants to become too reactionary, calling for managers to be sacked left, right and centre and therefore fall into the trap of supporter entitlement. But are we allowed to say yet that Nuno Espirito Santo probably isn’t going to work out as Tottenham Hotspur manager? A man that was probably fourth-choice for this job is demonstrating why.
The results are not awful; Spurs haven’t dropped that low yet. But when you watch Tottenham under Nuno, it’s hard to quite work out what the plan is or what they have been working on in training. This week has been a classic example of that muddled thought process: Tottenham made 11 changes to rest players for a league games, lost the cup game and then performed largely terribly in the league game and lost that anyway.
Most damning of all is the lack of attacking invention (when they aren’t playing Newcastle United). Tottenham had a front four of Tanguy Ndombele, Lucas Moura, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane in the second half, and failed to have a single shot despite falling behind and therefore needing to change the game.
That alone isn’t a sacking offence; let’s not get hyperbolic. But it does suggest that Nuno is still no closer to creating an attacking strategy that works against anything other than very weak – or very accommodating – opponents. Tottenham have scored nine goals in nine league games; that simply isn’t good enough.
Watford
An astonishing turnaround at Goodison, surely one of the most surprising in Premier League history given that Watford’s last four goals came after the 75th minute and that Watford had been so porous against Liverpool a week earlier. Claudio Ranieri deserves credit for his game-changing substitutions, but even he could not have predicted just how successful they would be. There cannot be many – if any – occasions in Premier League history when a team has scored five goals away from home the week after conceding five at home.
And who better to epitomise the madness than Josh King, who played 11 games on loan for Everton last season without scoring a goal and then scored a hattrick on his first game back there with Watford?
In June, King gave an interview in which he accused Carlo Ancelotti of dishonesty, presumably for making promises about regular league minutes that were not kept. Cut to a smiling player after the game, saying he had a point to prove against Everton. If you come for the King, you better not miss.
West Ham
There is a pattern emerging this season, where opposition supporters watch Declan Rice play and then voice on social media the opinion that they didn’t quite understand how good he was until watching him live. Last weekend it was Everton fans; this weekend it was Tottenham’s.
Holding midfielder is usually a position that requires experience to excel in. Being in the right position at the right time when defending against elite attacking players isn’t learnt overnight. Attacking players often peak earlier because those positions rely upon speed (which comes young) and instinct. And yet, at 22, Rice is a tremendously mature defensive midfielder.
Against Tottenham on Sunday, he made eight tackles, three more than any other player on the pitch. He completed 37 of his 40 passes, including all four long balls. He breaks up play, he starts attacking moves and he’s quickly learning when to surge forward with the ball too. Rice has genuinely been one of the Premier League players of the season so far.
Wolves
It’s easy to understand the negative reaction after your team concedes a last-minute equaliser, particularly when they sat back and invited pressure against a team that is suffering from fragile confidence. But it was interesting to see just how sharp-tongued Wolves supporters were on social media on Saturday evening, even allowing for the caveat that those platforms are hardly a barometer of measured opinion.
It appears that Bruno Lage stands accused of playing awful football (not really true) and being too passive in matches (possibly true). But without that last-minute penalty decision, Wolves would have ended Saturday inside the top four of the Premier League. Given the low-key summer transfer activity and a new manager settling into a new club in a new country, that seems perfectly acceptable.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3B8KOpP
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