Latin Maestros lead the way on Merseyside

After Graeme Souness’ controversial comments about Latin players and their alleged introduction of the dark arts of football into the British game, this was a game to cleanse the pallet and remind anyone about the quality of some of the Premier League’s top playmakers. 

On this occasion, Thiago and James Rodriguez stole the show. James was Everton’s shining light, and the majority of their good play came through the Colombian superstar. He has hit the ground running on Merseyside, and in one of the biggest games of the season so far he showed his worth once again. Amusing rumours are swirling that Real Madrid are ’upset’ that he was let go on a free transfer, and on these displays the mind boggles as to the reason why Zidane felt so incapable of finding a place for him in the squad. His corner set up the equaliser after Van Dijk’s departure due to injury, and his link up play with Luca Digne once again set the Frenchman clear to set up yet another headed goal for Calvert-Lewin. 

Thiago, back after his positive Covid-19 result a couple of weeks ago, was sensational once more. His vertical passing was crisp and incisive, and as mentioned on commentary he can make even a five yard pass look sublime. He possesses the subtlety that this Liverpool side has been lacking, and his wonderful pass to Mané should have led to the winning goal. If he can stay fit for the whole season, his class will continue to help Liverpool unpick defences as the season progresses. 

Van Dijk’s Injury blows the title race wide open

In a season where the title race seemed more open than it has for many seasons, this was a blow no one saw coming. Jordan Pickford’s horror tackle on Van Dijk somehow not only escaped a red card on VAR review, but also escaped any retrospective action, presumably because once a referee has seen it and doubled down on the mistake, the FA don’t like the idea of ‘undermining’ them, when in reality they would simply be righting a wrong. 

As it stands now, Van Dijk will be out of action for at least the next seven months, dealing Liverpool’s hopes a massive blow. This was a player who didn’t miss a single game as Liverpool dominated the Premier League last season. Without their defensive lynchpin who deters most strikers in the league before they have even stepped on the pitch, Liverpool look mortal again. Van Dijk has emerged as one of the premier centre backs in world football, and his loss would hurt any team, and yet Liverpool in particular look quite thin on the ground.

 With Joe Gomez and Joel Matip as their only other fit centre backs and Fabinho a handy utility option, they are low on replacements. All of these three players are good to very good at the back when paired with the Dutch ‘colossus’, but it will be a huge test for them to cope as a unit and gel. How many games have Matip and Gomez ever even played together? Not many, such is Van Dijk’s injury record and importance to this team.

This will be the most open title race since 2016. Whoever wins the league will win it with a much lower points tally this season.

VAR reverts to type

It was written here that VAR was starting to get it right, and yet here we are. In the Merseyside derby, VAR made two terrible decisions. 

Firstly, the decision to not award Pickford a red card was scandalous. Even though the decision for offside was made, it was still within the boundaries of the rules to send Pickford off. He recklessly charged off his line and endangered another player with his use of excessive force, completely out of control of his body. That the VAR had so many looks at it and decided it wasn’t a red card is outrageous, and speaks to a culture of protecting goalkeepers from any punishment for their careless and dangerous play.

Next up was Jordan Henderson’s disallowed winner. Not only did VAR once again spare Pickford’s blushes, stemming once again from his poor goalkeeping, it also called Mané offside in one of the most bizarre calls ever seen. Mané, by almost any view, was clearly not gaining any advantage by being in the position he was in, and it’s time the rule changes to prevent more of these nonsensical decisions being reached. 

We should go back to a player’s feet having to be offside, and no more. The idea that you could possibly be gaining any advantage on a defender by 5mm of your armpit is bemusing at best and infuriating at worst.  Whether any part of the foot or the whole foot should have to be offside is a different matter, but clearly the rules as they are do not fit in this VAR world of football we find ourselves in. If you have any ideas on how to change the offside rule, let us know in the comments section below.

Arsenal tighten up but lose attacking spark

For purists, this game will have come as welcome relief to the goalscoring bonanza that the Premier League has become. For everyone else, it was a disappointing break from the new normal of goals galore.

Arsenal’s newfound resilience and toughness defensively will please many Arsenal fans. Many away days at the Etihad have ended long before the final whistle, but on Saturday they pushed Man City all the way. Brilliant saves from Ederson to deny Bukayo Saka and Aubameyang made the difference in the end, while Mahrez’s great pass into Aguero which led to Sterling’s opener was the only goal of the game. 

With their midfield and defensive compactness now making it harder for teams to find space, and the workrate of the front line, Arsenal are now a much tougher team to break open. However, by making his team harder to beat, Arteta has also somewhat blunted them. The addition of Partey is a brilliant one, and it isn’t hard to imagine him winning many midfield battles, but will it free up someone else to take up the creative reigns?

The second half saw them struggle to create openings of any real note when chasing the game. Dani Ceballos is seen by many as Arsenal’s most creative current midfielder (Özil doesn’t count), but he is not seen as a no. 10 by Arteta. Willian is a great crosser of the ball and brings much needed energy in the press, but is not known for defence splitting play or metronomic passing. 

Does the answer lie out wide? Bellerin has yet to truly rediscover the blistering attacking runs that made him such a popular figure when he broke into Arsenal’s first team, but he could potentially dovetail well with Pepe if the combination play together, seen in Arsenal’s victory over Sheffield United. Tierney isn’t always given the freedom to overlap on the left hand side, but a burgeoning partnership with Saka may lead to more overloading opportunities with captain Aubameyang thrown into the mix. 

The demise of Mesut Özil has been televised, and as such Arteta now needs to find new avenues to break teams down. If he can jumpstart Arsenal’s attacking play to match their defensive solidity, they will be well on their way to a successful season.

Football wins again as West Ham show Tottenham how dangerous the Premier League is

When asked to explain what happened after his teams 3-3 draw with West Ham, Mourinho was typically quotable when he said, “Football happened.” Tottenham raced into a 3-0 lead after 16 minutes, due to the brilliance of Harry Kane and the lethal finishing of Son. It looked like it would be another victory built off the back of Harry Kane’s superb all round game flourishing under José Mourinho. Operating almost as a false 9, he has been dropping deep, positioned between the lines to receive the ball and feed others ahead of him. His range of passing has become absurd, and the quality he has when putting others through on goal or switching the play is a testament to his ability to hit a football so sweetly. His nutmeg and shot from outside the box was reminiscent of Luis Suarez, while his header at the back post from Reguilon’s lovely lofted cross was Alan Shearer-esque. 

When Gareth Bale came on at half time, we suspected he would enjoy the open spaces and put the finishing touches on a comfortable win, and he nearly did. His skill to get past a couple of West Ham players and make them look silly was smooth, but his finish was one of a rusty player just coming back to match fitness. However, that miss proved costly as West Ham fought back to earn an unlikely point. 

Cresswell’s freekick into the box was sweetly struck, and Balbuena beat Sissoko convincingly in the air to head home. Davidson Sanchez’s own goal summed up his start to the season: unlucky, but a sign of deeper positional issues. If the first two goals were routine if not surprising, the equaliser from Lanzini had fans jumping off their seats up and down the country. His strike was too much for Lloris to handle, and the dramatic bounce off the crossbar felt like the perfect exclamation mark to yet another crazy day of football. 

Tottenham were made to pay for their lethargic second half performance, and cool any murmurings of a title charge. For all of their attacking firepower, they seem to lack the ability to keep the ball in midfield and take the sting out of the game. Their back four and goalkeeper add plenty when the team is attacking, but seem to consistently have a mistake in them, as we have already seen repeatedly this season. Can they find the right balance to launch a proper title challenge? 

For West Ham, their recent resurgence continues. They showed great spirit to not capitulate after a shocking first 15 minutes, and will take heart from their fightback. If Declan Rice can keep up his great form and the team tightens up a bit at the back, West Ham should be able to steer clear of relegation trouble. 

PPV Premier League Football misses the big picture

On a weekend where there were so many talking points, it feels frustrating to focus on this, but it needs to be said. There was so much to digest: Manchester United bounced back well vs Newcastle, with Fernandes, Mata and Rashford in particular showing their quality,while Maguire put a terrible run of form behind him. Chelsea sparkled and flopped in equal measure, cutting Southampton open before having their soft centre exposed through Southampton’s pressing and their awful individual errors. 

Instead of focusing on these numerous and interesting areas of interest, I’m going to focus on the fact that fans couldn’t watch those games unless they were willing to pay £15 for PPV access. Reports suggest that Sky and BT Sport will simply be covering their costs, and this is a decision taken solely from the Premier League clubs to fleece their fans for even more cash.

Coming off the back of a transfer window where over one billion has been spent on new talent, Premier League clubs feel the need to recoup some of that from their fans. Notwithstanding that some fans have already paid for season tickets with no refunds in sight, or the fact that a lot of fans are already paying for subscriptions to Sky Sports and in some cases BT Sport too. Of course, let’s not forget the biggest issue: we are going through a global pandemic which is affecting everyone in society, and will be affecting a lot of football fans economically. Thoughts will be turning not to whether the football is available on BT Sport, but whether they will be able to keep paying the rent or the mortgage. 

With this in mind, Premier League football clubs, the richest in the world, have decided amongst themselves: screw it, let’s do it anyway. £15 may be palatable to watch a Heavyweight Boxing Unification fight, but to ask fans to pay that to watch their team every week they’re not on TV is absolutely outrageous. 

Some will say what’s wrong with charging £15 when fans would be paying much more for Matchday tickets plus food and drinks, all revenue that clubs are missing out on? The reality is that anyone who compares watching football on TV to the matchday experience clearly hasn’t been to many of them. The thrill of anticipation in the air, the tension of tens of thousands standing in thrall of the unknown, can’t be recreated on television. Without even the option of paying a monthly subscription to watch the team you support play like we see in for example the NBA, this feels like a poorly thought out, rushed and shameful money grab from the Premier League clubs.