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A mini-weekend of Premier League football thanks to the FA Cup quarter-finals, but no shortage of significant developments. Fulham now have the form striker in the division and neither Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur can shake off Manchester United for a top four/five place.
But the biggest events came at the bottom, where Luton Town scored another late goal to keep Nottingham Forest in their sights – that situation might get better with potential points deductions to come this week. Elsewhere, Burnley gave themselves a glimmer, while Brentford are not safe yet and in freefall.
Scroll down for my verdict on every team in action (listed in table order)…
Gameweek 29 results
Saturday 16th March
- Burnley 2-1 Brentford
- Luton 1-1 Nott’m Forest
- Fulham 3-0 Tottenham
Sunday 17th March
- West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
Arsenal
No game this weekend.
Liverpool
Lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Manchester City
Beat Newcastle United to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
Read more: The moment Phil Foden showed Gareth Southgate why he must unleash him at Euros
Aston Villa
Aston Villa aren’t the only team who will be relieved of an international break to regroup (albeit with many players missing), but they have more reason than most to be glad of the gap to Wolves at home on 30 March. Over their last three league games, there have been signs of Unai Emery reaching a little for answers.
Against Luton, Emery started with Youri Tielemans in an advanced role and that didn’t really work. Against Tottenham, the manager switched to a back three that ceded all control in midfield because legs were tired after the trip to Amsterdam in the Conference League – Tottenham ran riot.
On Sunday, Emery gave Jhon Duran his first ever Premier League start and began a game with two recognised centre forwards for the first time this season. Again, it didn’t really work because Villa struggled to service Duran and Ollie Watkins without their No. 10s. They were probably lucky to still be in the game at half-time, when Duran was substituted for Moussa Diaby. He had just 13 touches of the ball before coming off and failed to have a shot.
There’s nothing wrong with a manager seeking different options to try and rectify a sticky patch, but Villa’s plan at the moment does seem a little more complicated than it needs to be. They have Matty Cash (excellent after his introduction on Sunday) out of the team, Ezri Konsa – a natural central defender – playing at right-back, their best left-back this season (Lucas Digne) also on the bench and now they’re also trying to acclimate Morgan Rogers and Duran.
This was a decent result, no doubt. Tottenham lost, Villa haven’t won at West Ham in an age and they were missing their two most dynamic midfielders in John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara. But Emery must use the next fortnight to recreate the certainty of style, formation and personnel that carried them through the first half of the season. A Champions League place may depend upon it.
Tottenham Hotspur
Wrote Kat Lucas from Craven Cottage on Saturday evening:
“The only Tottenham Hotspur player who came out of a bruising 3-0 defeat to Fulham with their reputation enhanced was Micky van de Ven, who was not playing. With his unmatched pace and prescient reading of a forward’s movement, there is a serious argument to be had in favour of the Dutchman as signing of the season. How Ange Postecoglou could have done with him here.”
Not for the first time, she’s absolutely right. Ange Postecoglou’s high line might be able to work without Van de Ven’s recovery pace and anticipation for danger, but we’re yet to be convinced. In his absence, Radu Dragușin struggled badly. Hard to deny that Van de Ven would not have got back to cut out Antonee Robinson’s cross for Fulham’s first goal or reacted quicker for their third.
A Premier League team relying upon the brilliant example of one defender is nothing unusual, but a Big Six team being so dependent on a 22-year-old in his first season in England certainly is. Van de Ven has started 18 league games this season and Spurs have lost only two of them. One of those was at home to Wolves; the other was when they had two players sent off against Chelsea. They have won 12 of those 18 matches.
Without Van de Ven, Tottenham’s record is far more patchy. He’s missed ten league games and they include defeat at Wolves, defeat at home to Aston Villa, defeat at home to West Ham, defeat at Brighton and now defeat at Fulham. Van de Ven might just be more important than Son Heung-min.
Read more: The one Spurs player who came out of Fulham loss with any credit sums up problem
Manchester United
Beat Liverpool to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
Read more: Mainoo is carrying Man Utd’s playground midfield – and keeping Ten Hag in his job
West Ham
This is not an original point, but if VAR is ever going to gain acceptance amongst match-going supporters (if their experience even matters to those in charge now), we have to find a way to reduce delays. You can play around with the communication around decisions, increase or decrease the bar to fit supposed ideals – none of that makes a difference when the live experience is so ghastly.
In part, this is an issue of initial delivery, the alleged intention that VAR would offer perfection and reduce controversy when, in fact, it simply introduces a new layer of subjectivity for human beings to oversee which could only ever increase outrage culture amongst those already predisposed towards that outrage. That was always the case: before, during and after its implementation.
But even if we accept all that, the current delivery is not working. West Ham scored a goal in injury time and then, six minutes later, that goal was ruled out while 60,000 people stood waiting to find out the result. You can dress this up as a positive if you like – “It all adds to the drama” – but football creates enough drama on its own. It doesn’t need the extended, manufactured Chris Tarrant game show pause.
Unfortunately, these delays cause an extra problem. The longer you take, the more you insinuate that the “correct” decision will be reached. And yet, as we have established, the correct decision doesn’t necessarily exist because subjectivity rules.
This isn’t the fault of the officials, because there is no time limit and they are under so much pressure that they want to be sure of their calls. But, sometime soon, someone needs to think of those who pay money to watch the sport live. Ask them what they think about six-minute delays, whether they go for their teams or against them.
Brighton
No game this weekend.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Lost to Coventry City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Newcastle United
Lost to Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Chelsea
Beat Leicester City to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
Read more: Sterling’s Chelsea move hasn’t worked – and it could be about to get even worse
Fulham
I don’t know what is real anymore. When Fulham entered the final days of the January transfer window desperate for a striker, their prayers were apparently answered by the arrival of Armando Broja from Chelsea. Broja has played 48 league minutes since that move. On Saturday, he was left out of Fulham’s matchday squad completely, with Marco Silva saying that Broja was not carrying an injury.
That has caused no stir at all because Fulham apparently have the form striker in the Premier League. Six weeks ago, Rodrigo Muniz had never scored a top-flight goal in England and had been used far more as a substitute than a starter in the Championship. Since the beginning of February, no Premier League player has scored more goals than a 22-year-old Brazilian who was, at best, fourth choice for his position a year ago.
We are seeing the power of confidence in action. Take Fulham’s first goal on Saturday evening: Antonee Robinson’s cross found Muniz in the centre, albeit slightly right of goal. His first touch actually ran further away from him than the striker intended. A few months ago, I’ve no doubt that Muniz would have taken another touch to steady himself, driven forward and attempted a cutback pass to an onrushing teammate.
Instead, Muniz struck the ball fractionally off balance, surprised Guglielmo Vicario with the timing and accuracy and scored. Later in the same game, he had the anticipation to be in the right place for the rebound after Calvin Bassey’s shot. These are the chances that you get and take when you feel untouchable and your teammates trust you with every pass.
Bournemouth
No game this weekend.
Crystal Palace
No game this weekend.
Brentford
Something has changed at Brentford and I’m not sure how they will get it back before the end of the season. Like Newcastle United, it starts at the point where the overachievement of the previous season meets with an injury crisis that reduces the manager’s options and asks more of players who ideally would only be fringe first-team players.
Also like Newcastle, that doesn’t explain everything. There is a resignation to their current slump that makes every game harder than the last. Individuals are making mistakes, but they are also surrounded by a general vibe of mediocrity that simply didn’t exist before. In Brentford’s case, the return of Ivan Toney hasn’t had the desired effect and I’m not sure it helps for supporters to hear him talking about his various plans to leave the club this summer.
Brentford may well be saved by the news of the next fortnight. If Nottingham Forest are docked six points, they would have to make up seven points on Brentford over the last nine games to finish above them. Brentford still have five home games to come and one of them is against Sheffield United.
But should hardly make Thomas Frank or supporters feel much better, to be kept safe by the financial mismanagement of others. Brentford are only four points above Luton and still have to play them in the league. They have won twice in all competitions since 2 December and, as such, they are in freefall. The end of May cannot come soon enough for a club that may need a reboot in the summer.
Everton
No game this weekend.
Nottingham Forest
I’m fully prepared to believe that this is a case of selective memory, whereby you remember the occasions that go along with your point of view and subconsciously allow those that don’t to slip from your thoughts.
But I’ll plough on with it anyway: I am certain that managers of teams who hold a slender lead, but have enjoyed territorial dominance and the majority of the chances, are guilty of false economy when they bring off their attacking players for more defensive numbers and inevitably drop deeper and invite their opponents onto them.
Even if the selective memory explanation is correct, I don’t think it applies here. Nottingham Forest have proven themselves so incapable of resisting pressure, particularly from set pieces and particularly late in matches, that you’d have to be a rampant optimist to believe in the strategy of abandoning their attacking approach in favour of soaking up pressure in their own penalty area.
That’s exactly what Nuno Espirito Santo did. Off came Divock Origi, Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White, Forest playing without a striker or a No. 10. It’s all very well having wingers on and attempting to play on the counter, but inevitably they drop deeper and become auxiliary wing-backs. Luton won a series of set pieces and eventually scored from one.
For the first time since his appointment, the reaction from Forest supporters was one of fury towards Nuno. After taking six points from his first three matches, he has taken five points from the last 27 available. The problems that Steve Cooper encountered, Nuno was supposed to fix. That hasn’t happened at all yet.
Luton Town
It won’t feature in many season reviews, and as such we should give it even more focus now, but Luke Berry has surely achieved the greatest feat of this Premier League season by scoring late on (obviously, this is Luton) against Nottingham Forest.
On 14 October, 2017, Berry scored his first ever League Two goal for Luton, against Stevenage. On 19 January, 2019, Berry scored his first League One goal for Luton, against Peterborough United. On 7 July 2020, Berry scored his first Championship goal for Luton in a 1-1 draw against Barnsley. And on Saturday, Berry scored his first ever Premier League goal for Luton.
The last player to achieve this feat (and, I think, the only other one to do so in the Premier League era) was Ian Ashbee for Hull City in 2008-09. But even then, that felt anachronistic. Clubs don’t usually come up from the fourth to the top tier in less than 15 years anymore. Given the overhaul in player transfers and the economic gap within the league pyramid, a player being there throughout is unheard of.
Berry is a servant but he’s also clearly a fringe player. He started only four league games (and played only 694 minutes) during Luton’s Championship promotion season, when he was on the bench for 37 of their 46 games. He also started only 12 games when they went up from League One. The surprise is that he is even here at all.
But when you retire, and you’re looking back on your career work, you remember moments more than seasons. When Berry was playing for Cambridge United in League Two in 2017-18, or the National League three years earlier, how could he ever have envisaged any of this?
Burnley
Managers don’t like dropping their first-choice goalkeeper; they know it comes laced with meaning. You can leave out a struggling winger for two or three games and it causes no reaction at all. A striker can spend six games barely getting a minute but then spark a season into action with a goal off the bench. Goalkeepers are, obviously, a different case.
For Vincent Kompany, an extra layer of complication. When James Trafford was signed by Burnley last summer, he became the third most expensive British goalkeeper of all time. He was also only 20 years old and had never played at a level higher than League One.
However highly rated Trafford was, and however much the fee suggested that he was destined for senior international caps, young players make mistakes and goalkeepers tend to peak later than outfield players. This promised to be a baptism of fire.
Trafford has struggled – no doubt. Of the 38 goalkeepers to play semi-regularly in the Premier League this season, he ranks 35th for post-shot expected goal difference (i.e. how many saves is he making according to the quality of chances he’s facing). Burnley supporters have been vocal in demanding that he is dropped from the team. If he wasn’t expensive and young, this might have happened earlier.
Arijanet Muric was the goalkeeper who helped Burnley get promotion – he deserves his chance too. His athleticism to get back and stop a calamitous own goal was excellent and his follow-up save from Ivan Toney was better. Muric could do nothing about Kristoffer Ajer’s late header and, let’s be honest, deserves to keep his place.
But you have to feel for Trafford too. This isn’t a school sports day, where just being young and enthusiastic merits a free pass. But he’s also a young kid, in a high-pressure environment and the most high-pressure position on the pitch, who must be struggling for confidence and being left on the bench for the rest of the season won’t help much.
Sheffield United
No game this weekend.
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