Well.........that
was some weekend wasn't it? I reckon a good few players were annoyed
at the earlier start to the season the FA forced on them and decided
to take matters into their own hands and grab a nice two week holiday
over the Interlull. At least, that's the best excuse I can come up
with for the sheer craziness that was wrought over the
weekend....either that or there were some serious card bets going
on....
Newcastle
Vs Arsenal: Two dull edges clashing........
Two teams with striker issues
clashed and this match got the weekend card-fest off with a bang. The
first red card of the weekend was dropped just fifteen minutes into
the match when, who else but, Mitrovic took exception to Francis
Coquelin's shins and raked his studs down them before planting his
foot into his ankle just for good measure. His record now stands at
two yellows (both within two minutes of getting off the bench) and a
red in four games, for any player to pick up that amount would be
baffling but for a centre-forward it's insane. McClarens' decision to
field him ahead of Cisse now looks like childish folly and there's no
doubt that Newcastle will be stepping up their pursuit of Charlie
Austin before Tuesday evening. Newcastle picked up seven cards (six
yellows and one red) and were unbelievably lucky not to concede a
penalty after Thauvin stupidly tripped Bellerin as he bore down on
goal and the rather theatrical manner in which he went down was
probably the only reason it wasn't given.
It
was obvious right off the bat that Newcastle were out to impose
themselves on the game and not allow Arsenal to control possession.
Arsenal lined up in pure “speed merchant” mode with Walcott on
and Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right due to Ozil's absence. Even
considering Oxlade's contribution to the goal, Arsenal sorely missed
Ozil's vision and he would've been invaluable in un-picking the
blanket defence Newcastle employed after the red card. McClaren no
doubt told his players to put a little extra bite into the tackles
and it backfired spectacularly. Newcastle sat deep which negated
Walcott and he really should've been hooked much earlier than the
70th
minute. A quick look at the stats for this match would tell a tale of
almost total Arsenal dominance and, in effect, that's what occurred.
But it is not that simple. Arsenal's profligacy in front of goal is
really becoming a problem and one that does not look like sorting
itself out. Newcastle had only one goal attempt and were so tame in
attack that Cech may as well have brought a packed lunch. The only
positives in this match were how well Newcastle defended and, for
Arsenal, this result combined with the others to keep them well in
the race. But they'll need to sort out their teething issues up front
if they are to worry Stoke after the interlull.
Aston
Villa Vs Sunderland: The Premier leagues version of a
Bumfight..........
This match of Premier league
hopefuls had some promise. Despite the fact both were drained from
humping to victories over lower league teams in the cup they also
both needed to be on guard against one another to stand any chance of
escaping with any points. Sunderland have resolved themselves to
slogging it out like troupers but Christ only knows how long they can
keep that up for and Villa are very much waiting for that mysterious
act known as “gelling” to occur and give the squad a shape and
form from which to base their season on. From this match however, it
seems that neither really happened. Sunderland lost the mindset for
slogging and were reliant on some good fortune to claim a point and
Villa lack the cutting edge and team spirit needed to put away a team
that's running incredibly low on morale.
Having
said that, the quality of the free kick that gave them the lead
simply cannot be denied. M'Vila curled it just inside the near post
and it was a great way to finally open your Premier League account.
Villa fought straight back and Sinclair racked up another goal within
three minutes with a penalty after the liability of a player that is
Cattermole clambered all over him in the box and, thanks to
Sunderland completely switching off at the back, followed it up with
a superbly taken goal just before the break. Gana's excellent
through-ball was turned into an excellent cross by Amavi and Sinclair
really couldn't miss at that range with the quality of service and
the shabbiness of the defending. Avocaat finally took action and
hooked both Cattermole (putting in quite possibly the worst 45
minutes I've ever seen) and Graham at half time for Fletcher
and Toivonen and their impact was so dramatic that I'd be amazed if
Cattermole is even allowed to train with the first team from now on.
He's been beyond awful since the start of the season and he's playing
like a player who just doesn't give a shit. He was more interested in
arguing with everyone than actually putting in any work and his
passing was appalling. Not that he was the only culprit, Kaboul
backed off so much for the second Villa goal I was half expecting him
to roll out a red carpet and ask Sinclair if he wanted the kettle put
on. It's difficult to understand what is going on at the back with
Sunderland. Experienced defenders getting absurdly out of position
and not communicating effectively. They host a badly mis-firing Spurs
next and it'll be interesting to see if anything changes between now
and then and Villa go to a tough match at Leicester and will know
that they must up their game or risk being run over.
Leicester
Vs Bournemouth: Let's get ready to rumble...............Watch your knees
At the start of the season this match looked like it would be an
interminably boring 0-0 draw between two teams struggling to find
their feet in the dizzying highs of the Premier league. In the three
weeks prior both teams have managed to create such a buzz about
themselves that this match had the hallmarks of being something
special. It didn't quite go that far but it was a solid game between
two teams who have already carved out their own identities when, all
around them, their much richer opponents have struggled. A draw was a
deserved result for both teams although Bournemouth will walk away
simultaneously ruing two lost points and happy in the fact that they
very nearly beat a Leicester team that's been scaring the shit out of
most of the other teams in the league. In a very physical encounter,
Bournemouth lost three players to knee injuries including their
record signing Mings, the goal that separated both teams was a moment
of rare skill by an even rarer type of player in this league, an
in-form striker.
His
goal came as a result of some fantastic team cohesion as after De
Laet, the Leicester right-back, got booked Bournemouth poured
everyone down the left flank and Leicester cracked. A neat one-two
led to a cross from Daniels led to a Gradel shot that Huth did well
to block. Unfortunately his block merely stunned the ball to Wilson
who spun through the air and smacked the ball past Schmeichel.
Leicester, shorn of their talisman Mahrez after a clumsy foul
resulted in him being taken off at half-time, looked just as
lethargic as they had done against Spurs but they never stopped
trying even when it all seemed hopeless. It's only with that level of
effort can you capitalise on an opponents' errors and that happened
in the 85th
minute when an errant O'Kane pass was seized by Vardy and he charged
into the box and was cleared out by Cook. The ref rightly pointed to
the spot and Vardy himself secured the point. Leicester need to
recharge over the Interlull and they play a Villa team that will hope
to have formed better by that time and Bournemouth go to Norwich in
the hopes that today's result has demoralised them enough to make it
easy going for the three points.
Chelsea
Vs Palace: Ever been shit on by an Eagle? Ask Jose..........
The
funny thing about this result is that it's not so much of a surprise.
Palace have shown great spirit and a high degree of skill in the
league so far and Chelsea have been abject, a few bright performers
aside. I suppose the biggest surprise about this result was the sheer
comprehensive nature of the win. Palace simply overwhelmed Chelsea
with pace and energy while also employing a well-drilled defence that
was nigh-on waterproof. This was not running for runnings' sake as
has been the motto for past Palace teams. This was running with
vision and creativity. It helped too that Chelsea were more
lacklustre here than they've ever been for a while. Maybe they didn't
show up, maybe they were played off the pitch, although it was
probably a combination of both and it might be a sign of weariness
that Chelsea's best player by far was also their newest one, Pedro.
His curling shot on the 18th
minute was Chelsea's best attempt in the entire first half.
Palace, on the other hand, could have racked up a cricket score were
it not for their profligacy in front of goal. They took the season
cue to funnel the majority of their action down the left and if it
wasn't obvious before that Ivanovic is being targeted, and cannot
cope, it certainly is now. How he was not taken off will remain a
constant source of bewilderment to me. The opening goal came from the
left flank, with Bolasie crossing low across the box for Sako
(allowed way too much time on the ball) to fire two shots at
Courtois. It should also be obvious that Willian is not a No.10.
While all hustle and running, he just does not have the end product
to justify his amount of game time and Costa must now realise that
simply elbowing the centre-backs around will not get him what he
wants and he was practically anonymous here. Pedro's cross for Falcao
was matched only by the latter's brilliant diving header. That looked
to have sealed the point but the Chelsea midfield totally went to
sleep and Sako rumbled through before laying off for Dann to stab the
ball home and secure all three points and yet more adulation (if any
more were possible, seriously) for Pardew. Palace are in fine form
and will need every ounce of it for they play City after the break
but, on this evidence, they look to be the first team that will
trouble them. Chelsea will hope that the break re-energises their
legs in time for an Everton team that will be looking to strike while
the iron is hot.
Liverpool
Vs West Ham: Two steps forward, one leap off a cliff back...........
Hammers fans were constantly berated with the fact that the last time
they won at Anfield, the Beatles were top of the Charts. No doubt
they'll be delighted to have taken that particular trope out the back
and shot it through the head. Three times. This was the most dominant
display from the Hammers so far, a heady blend of intelligent
defending and incisive attacking. The duo of Reid and Ogbonna firmly
kept Benteke out of the game whilst their covering midfielders, Noble
and Obiang, screened them effectively and kept the pressure off.
Further forward, the trio of Lanzini, Payet and Sakho caused no end
of nightmares for the home defence. In particular, it was the idiotic
amount of space afforded to Payet (something Arsenal were also guilty
of) that resulted in the first goal less than three minutes in. His
cross was headed, by Skrtel, onto Cresswell and his low ball into the
box found Lanzini, who had just lost Gomez, and he fired home from
inside the six yard box. Liverpool almost levelled through Firmino's
cracking 25 yard shot but it smacked off the post to the relief of
the Hammers fans, as Randolph was no-where near it, and had it been
an inch to the right it would have been one of the best debut goals
we've seen in a long while.
Alas, that was to be Firmino's first and only involvement in the
game. While it seems a little harsh to single out a player in a team
that collectively played so badly he was no-where for the match until
he was subbed. A player who would have loved to have been subbed,
however, was Lovren. He had a shocker of a game and was directly at
fault for the second. Despite having shrugged off Lanzini and winning
back possession he then, for some reason, turned the ball straight
back into his path. Lanzini sauntered into the Liverpool box
unopposed and crossed for Sahko. It was intercepted by Clyne (the
only defender with his head screwed on) but only as far as Noble who
rushed in to fire into the bottom corner. Booed off at half time, it
got worse in the second when Coutinho was sent off for a second
yellow. It wasn't made any easier when Noble was sent off for a
perfectly good tackle (it has since been rescinded), and then in
stoppage time, Sakho picked up the ball, Skrtel backed off and Sakho
fired the ball through his legs and past the near post to ice the
cake. This match gives West Ham an impetus that was lost after two
straight defeats and preps them nicely for Newcastle after the break,
Liverpool have Man United next and will have to bring back the form
they showed at Arsenal if they're to have any hope of re-gaining
their momentum.
Man
City Vs Watford: The Money Team roll on..............
Slag
them off all you want about buying the league and pissing over a
billion quid into the team but Christ, City are playing some really
nice football. Even when they last won the league I don't remember
them playing this well ever throughout that season. Here, they came
to a Watford team that set out to defend a just nick a point, if they
could, and avoid a trouncing if they couldn't. Which is a pity as
they held their own, for the most part, in the first half when they
decided to actually play. But the pressure was beginning to tell and
in the second they finally broke. Sagna marauded down the right and
served a cross straight onto Sterlings' right foot and he volleyed
home for his first goal in City colours. Nine minutes later, after
Toure smashed a free kick off the wall, Silva produced a near-magical
pass that took out the entire Watford defence leaving the goal wide
open for Fernandihno to score. After that City coasted to the final
whistle.
For Watford, while they probably could not have hoped to upset the
Money Juggernaut, they can be happy that they played quite well.
Their own brand of pass-and-move, one-touch football was quite
pleasing to watch. If they were intimidated they did not show it and
in their forward four of Jurado, Holebas, Capoue and Behrami they
should have enough skill and experience to see that they have a
successful season in the top flight. For City, though, it's difficult
to see how anyone in the league will stop them on this form. Their
contenders only hopes are that the Champs League exertions leave them
so drained (they've by far the toughest group) that this head of
steam just peters out. It looks unlikely but with a resurgent Palace
next, fresh off a stunning victory over Chelsea, City may just get
their toughest test yet. Watford host a Swansea team also swimming in
confidence after a big scalp at Man United and they'll need all their
defensive nous to avoid defeat there.
Stoke
Vs West Brom: The red mist descends on the walking dead......
Two winless teams met and both will be leaving with vastly different
problems from the result. Stoke will leave concerned about the
foul-tempered manner in which two of their players were sent off
meaning both will serve three match bans. Afelley can try to concede
that he was goaded into slapping Gardner but his lamentations should
fall on deaf ears, what he did was beyond stupid and he left Oliver
no choice. Ironically this seemed to spur them on and they nearly
took the lead when Diouf lobbed the ball over Myhill only to head
over the bar under pressure from McAuley. This second wind blew
itself out when they were reduced to nine after 31 minutes. Dawson
flew into a challenge on Adam and Adam, in the tangle of legs,
brought his full weight down on Dawson's thigh. The linesman waived
Oliver over and Adam walked.
After this West Brom went for it. Subbing on Lambert for Yacob, who
without Adam and Afellay to watch for had literally nothing to do,
West Brom began applying pressure almost immediately. The winning
goal came from the new sub, with Lambert crossing for Rondon to head
expertly across the goal and into the net to mark the first goal for
the club. It shines on how well Stoke can play that they managed to
keep the scoreline at 1-0 when they were basically playing a 4-4-0
formation and I believe Hughes's post-match assertion that, had the
teams been level, they would have won comfortably. West Brom, however
happy at their first win, will not look upon the way they were
pressured by 10 men (and at times 9) and nearly conceded multiple
times. Stoke will have to look to other options for now and, for all
Hughes's waxing about how good he is, Ireland should really have had
more of a look in on this team by now, and now could be his chance.
It could be a loooong wait on the sidelines for Adam.
Spurs
Vs Everton: A tale of two crap teams..............
Given
their winless run in the league so far, Spurs were probably hopeful
that a midweek-game drained Everton would offer up no more than token
resistance to allow them to get out of their rut and hopefully help
Kane out of his too. It's worryingly obvious that Kane is pretty much
Spurs only port of call when it comes to goals and his teams bad
start and his own is not a coincidence. And they'll not get a better
chance than they did today, for while their wish of a drained Everton
team came through, their defence seems to have been restored to last
seasons solidity. In particular Howard was excellent in goal, saving
shots from Bentaleb, Mason, Alderwierld and, with the best chance of
the game by far, Kane. Stones and Jagelka were excellent too and it's
a shame that the Everton attack could not match the work-rate of
their defensive brethren. Lukaku looked completely gassed before even
stepping on the pitch (it was a wonder he was even fielded at all),
Kone was strangely ineffective at whatever it was he was supposed to
be doing in all sorts of odd positions and it was telling that
Martinez did not see fit to attempt to rotate his team given their
mid-week exertions. His lack of squad depth will surely be playing on
his mind as he seeks to compete in more than one competition this
season.
Everton were leggy from the first whistle and it wouldn't have
surprised me to see Lukaku pull out a deckchair and put his feet up.
This wasn't helped by the lack of service to him and the only times
he got anything decent was when Barkley was allowed to get forward.
They will be looking forward to the Interlull break to help most of
their players prepare to the Chelsea game after they get back. Spurs
will be hoping that Erikson comes back and slots straight in. So too
will the new recruits if Spurs are to have any hope of breaking their
winless streak. This game typified the type of Spurs performance this
season; dominate possession, do fuck all, smash shots into the car
park. The lack of any kind of killer instinct in front of goal is
really telling and they may need to begin fining players for hitting
shots into Row Z. They play Sunderland next after the break and
while, on the surface, it'll look like a guaranteed three points and
some goals, Spurs will need to sharpen up if they are to have any
chance of making any waves in the league.
Southampton
Vs Norwich: The saints get back on track..........
For
Southampton, this season was confirmation to all that two straight
summers of having a transfer policy akin to letting the foxes run the
henhouse is just not sustainable. For all Koeman's talk of their fine
academy products, when you're being pillaged year in, year out, it
will show and their start was proof pudding of this. Their opening
match against Newcastle could be written off as a blip, especially
given how good Newcastle have been, but the follow up destruction at
the hands of Everton and the subsequent paltry 0-0 draw to Watford
cannot. They need results, and fast, if they were to have any hope of
silencing the nay-sayers both inside and out. A tie against a Norwich
team who have been taking on all-comers without being destroyed, like
a surprisingly good pub-fighter, seems to be the last thing they
wanted. But what a result they got in the end, and the boost this
result will give them going into the break will be invaluable.
That
Norwich helped them out by playing second best and going down to ten
men after half an hour will matter not a jot. Southampton were
pressing long before Whittaker's idiotic (and deserved) sending off,
the key moment being Ward-Prowse's free-kick drawing an incredible
full-stretch save from Ruddy. After the red card, though, Southampton
went in for the kill and the interplay between Ward-Prowse, Tadic,
Mane and Pelle was truly excellent. The first was a classic break
after Ward-Prowse won back possession, slipped the ball to Mane who
found Pelle and finished low at Ruddy's near post. After half-time
Southampton upped the pressure by bringing on Rodriguez and the
second goal came soon enough. Mane's pull-back from the right was
perfect for Tadic to run in and curl the ball into the net. His
second, and Southampton's third, arrived minutes later when Ruddy
could only parry Pelle's close range header into his path leaving
Tadic alone to finish from point-blank range. Southampton will be
heartened by this ferocious display and will hope it continues for
the match against a fading West Brom next while Norwich will need to
put this result away and prepare for Bournemouth with the grit and
will that has marked them out this season so far.
Swansea
Vs Man United: Van Gaal's fantasy crashes on some familar
rocks............
A
meeting of two teams on two markedly different forms. Swansea have
literally not being playing better football and United have not
played worse. A team built to the tune of 250 million pounds against
a team built around two free transfers in Ayew and Gomis (who looked
liked he'd rather have been anywhere else last season with the loss
of Bony). For Monk, whose team so far have taken Chelsea to the
brink, crushed Newcastle and have not lost, a prized scalp arrived
today in the form of a mis-firing United team that has relied on
unbelievable luck (and nothing else) to amass seven points from the
available nine. It is obvious to all that the current United
goalkeeper situation is a disaster and that both Swansea goals,
coming within five minutes of each other, possibly could've been
stopped by a better keeper (and a better keeper they certainly do
have) will be the focus of most of the post-match talk along with
their almost hilariously blunt attack.
Which
is a shame as Swansea deserve most of the talk to be on how they
responded to going a goal down. United pulled ahead right after half
time when Shaw, spotting some criminally bad Swansea defending,
picked out Mata with a cross that eluded everyone and, with Williams
practically asleep, swept home with aplomb to mark united second goal
in four games. And that should have been that but for Monk. His
tactical shift after an hour to a midfield diamond, pushing Ayew
further forward, was the turning point of the game and even Van Gaal
was obliged to admit after that United could not cope afterwards.
This was an understatement. Swansea ran amok afterwards and it
culminated in both goals. Ayew's equaliser came from a pinpoint
Sigurdsson cross and his downward header got past Romero far too
easily on his near post. Swansea poured forward in search of the
winner and got it. Ayew then ran down the inside left and his pass to
Gomis was perfect, Romero's feeble attempt to get down to the shot,
which allowed it to squeeze under him, was not. Swansea will look
back on this result as pure justification of their status as one of
the in-form teams of the season and will look to build on this
momentum with a victory over Watford next whereas United will have to
look long and hard at themselves for answers. Their attack was far
too slow and nowhere else was there a greater example than in Rooney
(who has now hit his biggest dry patch since he played for Everton).
Twice he was out-paced by Williams, despite having a head-start on
the defender, who isn't exactly the Flash and is a year older to
boot. Van Gaal will hope that the Interlull gives Rooney some
much-needed confidence ahead of their clash with an equally wounded
Liverpool.
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