Premier League Week 2 conclusions
Liverpool are still the team to beat
Sadio Mané heads Liverpool into the lead vs Chelsea
Liverpool, with Matip and Gomez out injured, started Fabinho at centre back. Would the combination of their high line and Fabinho’s centre back role expose Liverpool defensively? No.
They showed their superiority throughout the game, and were well deserved winners. Their pressing and crisp passing meant Chelsea, who sat deep, rarely managed to counter, and were holding on for the majority of the game. The pivotal moment of the first half came when Henderson spotted the space Chelsea had left defensively, and pinged a brilliant ball for Mané’s well timed run. The explosiveness of Mané gave Christensen no chance to catch him, and with Arrizabalaga not making it in time, he decided to rugby tackle the Senegalese forward to the ground. The referee inexplicably gave a yellow card, but the VAR replay showed that Mané was clearly going to get the ball first, and the decision was overturned.
It’s hard to believe that just a couple of years ago Christensen would have been allowed to stay on the pitch for that blatant red card offence. Whether that should be a reason to celebrate VAR or lament the refereeing is up to you.
Henderson came off at half time with a slight muscle twinge, and so Thiago made his debut, just a day after signing from Bayern Munich. And what a debut it was. No player in Premier League history has successfully completed as many passes as he did in the 2nd half vs Chelsea (75). He was metronomic, but also ambitious in his passing. In signing not only him but also Diego Jota in the last few days, Liverpool are addressing many of their perceived problems. With Thiago in particular, it looks to have taken the team to another level.
The opening goal came from great play between Firmino and Salah, resulting in Mané’s lethal header into the corner. The header was clinical, befitting a true centre forward, and Kepa, for once, had no chance. If the first goal displayed Mané’s skill with his head, then the second goal showed his determination, sprinting towards the ball once he had given it away in Chelsea’s half. The well worked nature of his first goal, and desire he showed for the second, are perfect examples of why Liverpool will be so hard to top this season. More on the helping hand from Kepa later.
In a summer where Chelsea have spent so much to close the gap, they weren’t even close on Sunday evening. Liverpool sent out a message that they will still be the team to beat this season.
Lampard gets the balance all wrong
Chelsea have spent over £230M this transfer window to bridge the 33 point difference to Liverpool last season. Based on this showing, they may need to spend a bit more, such was the chasm between the two sides. Chelsea, on the back of a very unconvincing win over Brighton, were looking to make a statement at Stamford Bridge and prove that they could compete at the top end of the table, but instead fell way short of the level of Liverpool.
Lampard’s tactics were bafflingly negative: yes, Chelsea are missing some of their star signings, but to start Kai Havertz up front as a false 9 when you have Werner, Giroud and Tammy Abraham available was a bizarre decision. To start Mason Mount as a winger over Hudson-Odoi was just as strange a decision this game as it was the game before. No wonder the young Chelsea winger is open to leaving the club once again. Chelsea sat deep and invited Liverpool onto them. Kanté harried and pressed as best he could, but Chelsea could not get a foothold in the game. They only looked mildly threatening when Werner had the ball, and for large swathes of the game looked bereft of ideas.
Yes Jorginho had a penalty saved in the 2nd half, but to only lose by a margin of two goals flattered Chelsea. Liverpool, at Stamford Bridge, were in complete cruise control. Lampard said he was happier with this performance than the once vs Brighton. That may be the case, but ‘happier’ is a relative term, and he should be extremely concerned once again by the limp manner of the performance and defeat.
Timo Werner is the only Chelsea player to emerge from these two games with any real credit in the bank. Havertz has been played completely out of position in two games in a row, as has Mason Mount, which suggests that Lampard is already struggling to get the best out of his new look team. It is of course, very early days, and there is little doubt Chelsea will improve. But will that be enough?
One man we already know Chelsea fans have had enough of is Kepa Arrizabalaga. He has been consistently woeful for over a year now, and it was telling that Gary Neville didn’t even deem it necessary to criticise the ‘keeper in the aftermath of the 2nd goal, such has been the level of his recent performance. The decision to come out for the first goal made Christensen panic and bring Mané down, as he would have clearly rounded the goalkeeper to tap into an empty net. His terrible decision making then saw him play an incredibly risky pass with an onrushing Mané sprinting toward him at full speed. Chelsea have just signed Rennes ‘keeper Edouard Mendy, and the last goalkeeper Chelsea signed from Rennes, along with his former teammate, will be desperately hoping he can do a much, much better job than the incumbent.
Zaha x Palace collab must be respected on the break
If we ignore the more salacious rumours surrounding Wilfried Zaha’s exit at Manchester United, we can generally see a trend of young, ambitious players ‘flopping’ at Old Trafford. Except, at some point, does the problem lie with the young and clearly gifted talents entering the club, or with the chaotic and rudderless environment they came into? Regardless, Zaha has been trying to patch his reputation back together ever since, and today scored twice to lead Crystal Palace to an emphatic 3-1 victory.
Just like in their victory over Southampton, they played against a team who persisted with a high backline, and just like in that game, they exploited it, particularly in the 2nd half. Their 4-4-2, as noted by Gary Neville, didn’t become a back six, but stayed with a narrow four across the midfield, allowing the two wide men in Townsend and Schlupp to bomb forward on the counter attack. The first goal was a combination of Schlupp outmuscling Lindeöf, and Townsend finishing well at the back post, with Luke Shaw unable to stop him.
If the first half was about Townsend and Schlupp, the 2nd half was all about Ayew and Zaha. They had far too much athleticism for Maguire and Lindelöf as the game became stretched, and in Zaha, Palace have one of the most skillful and gifted forwards in the Premier League. As mentioned last weekend, this position and formation suits Zaha, as it allows him to cause havoc in the middle of the pitch, which we saw with his 3rd goal, rolling Lindelöf again before leaving De Gea with no chance as he smashed it in the near corner. His well taken (retaken) penalty had already put Palace 2-0 up to make amends for Ayew’s miss, and his 2nd goal put the game beyond doubt.
Wilfried Zaha scores twice to help Crystal Palace beat Manchester United at Old Trafford two seasons in a row
With Batshuayi and Eze to come off the bench, Palace will be a threat to every team in the Premier League away from home. Two of McCarthy, McArthur and captain Milivojević will continue to provide a solid base in midfield, and Kouyaté has adapted admirably at centre back. Ward is one of the most experienced fullbacks in the league, while Mitchell is the opposite, but impressive nonetheless. They certainly should be in no relegation trouble, and we will see how high they can climb this season.
Manchester United can’t afford another slow start
The summer of discontent at Man Utd has been slow and painful. First came the joy of securing 3rd place and Champions League football, with all the visions of grandeur that came with it. Then came the disappointing defeat vs Sevilla, the first real test they had faced in the Europa League. The clear need to recruit at least one top tier centre back instead gave way to the endless speculation and media briefings regarding the pursuit of Jadon Sancho. That pursuit has so far been completely fruitless, and made the club look foolish. The only signing has been the one of Donny van de Beek, facilitated in large part by the presence of Ajax CEO and Manchester United legend, Edwin van de Sar.
This all brings us to the game vs Crystal Palace on Saturday. The performance was poor, ponderous and perhaps complacent. The defeat was deserved, regardless of the wretched change of the handball law. Yes, Manchester United haven’t managed to strengthen the starting XI significantly, but the players on the pitch were nowhere near good enough on the day.
Rashford has looked a shell of his former shelf since that terrible back injury, and was completely anonymous. Pogba somehow looked lost in midfield, coughing up possession on numerous occasions, while Fernandes couldn’t get going and Martial was never in the game. McTominay, so impressive before the shutdown, offered little both offensively and defensively, while the centre backs were once again exposed. Luke Shaw has had ample time to prove he is the man for both club and country, and has instead proved he is the main for neither.
“They’re not going to win the league with this centre back pairing.”
The majority are good players, and Donny van de Beek is a very good addition to the squad, scoring his first goal in the 3-1 defeat. Despite the lack of other reinforcements, they should be capable of much better. Manchester United have not suddenly become a bad team overnight, and in Matic, Greenwood and Wan-Bissaka, have talented players to come back into the team.
However, any prolonged slump in form will unlikely be clawed back like it was last season. With the resurgence of previously underperforming teams in Everton, Tottenham, Arsenal, along with the emergence of Wolves and Leicester, this Manchester United team will have a fight on their hands to finish in the Top Four, let alone challenge Liverpool and Manchester City. To get anywhere near challenging for the Premier League and Champions League again, not only must the recruitment become significantly better, but the players at the club must also dust themselves down and consider this defeat an early warning sign.
Kevin De Bruyne is still the best player in the Premier League
Last season, Kevin De Bruyne ended the campaign with the joint most assists in Premier League history (20), and 13 goals. He has started this season in exactly the same manner, with a goal and an assist vs Wolves, leading Manchester City to a 3-1 victory. He played as a 10, with City changing to a 4-2-3-1 formation, and the role suits him. He can use his vision to thread through balls, intelligence to drop deeper and dictate play, and his underrated athleticism and pace to run beyond the striker into space. Against Wolves, he displayed all of these attributes. Only a top save by Rui Patricio stopped him scoring another.
His speed fooled Roman Saïss into thinking he could get to Phil Foden’s pass before the Belgian, only to be proved wrong as he conceded a penalty. You’ll struggle to find a sweeter striker of a football in the world, and so it was no surprise to see De Bruyne smack the ball with his side foot past the dive of Patricio from the spot. City’s 2nd goal was a thing of beauty, as the movement of the front four pulled Wolves’s backline out of position, allowing De Bruyne to slide through Sterling, who showed awareness and selflessness to put it on a plate for Foden to score. The rotation, speed and incisiveness of their play in the first half was sensational, and Wolves just couldn’t keep up. Their ferocious pressing to win the ball back was another facet of their game they displayed in the 1st half, and Wolves were fortunate to not be losing by more at half time.
However, they rallied and truth be told should’ve got at least a draw, such was the quality of chances they created in the 2nd half. Jiménez, usually so clinical, missed a great opportunity from a Traore cutback, and then Podence was put through by a lovely pass from Moutinho. His chip over Ederson may have not been the worst decision, but was poorly executed, landing on the roof of the net. His skill to completely fool and nutmeg De Bruyne led to Wolves’’s only goal, as he placed a cross onto the head of Jiménez, and the Mexican finished it off with ease. The emergence of Podence helps explain Wolves’s willingness to let Jota leave, and he now seems to have adapted to the pace of the league. If he continues putting in these types of performances, Wolves should again be challenging for European places this season.
As for Man City, their dazzling 1st half display ebbed away in the 2nd, and Guardiola should be worried about the amount of times they were opened up. Even switching to two defensive midfielders and bringing in Nathan Ake hasn’t stop the poor defending of Benjamin Mendy being exposed, and while another centre back could be useful, surely they must look to either bring in a better defender in that position. Yes, the Frenchman adds a lot to their attacking play, but his woeful defending will continue to cost Manchester City for as long as they allow it to.
Tottenham will threaten anyone on the counter attack with Son leading the way
Southampton’s game vs Tottenham was the strangest game of the weekend. Southampton started the game vibrantly, and only Lloris’s super save stopped Che Adams opening the scoring. Then, Walker-Peter’s ball over the top dropped exactly where he intended it to - on the foot of Danny Ings. His first touch was perfect, and his second was sublime. They should’ve been further ahead, with Djenepo creating chaos down Southampton’s left.
Then, the momentum completely shifted just before halftime. Ndombele’s smooth turn in the centre circle freed him up to find Kane on the left hand side. His cross found Son in the middle, who’s finish across McCarthy levelled the game up.
Last week, it was noted here that Southampton’s high line leaves them very exposed to balls in behind if insufficient pressure is applied on the ball in midfield. What they have shown in these first two games is a complete inability to adapt to the situation. It is not a crime to not always have high pressure on the ball, but it is one if your defence does not react by dropping deeper, especially when the opposition have a player like Son in top form. His four goals were almost like rinse and repeat - his pinpoint finishing and Harry Kane’s spectacular passing the other constants. Tottenham were terrible in the 1st half, and didn’t even play particularly well in the 2nd, but they ruthlessly exposed Southampton’s shortcomings, as one would expect of a José Mourinho team.
However, despite the big win, they may be slightly concerned themselves. Not all teams will be so welcoming and leave Spurs plenty of space behind their backline to do as they please with no pressure on the ball in midfield. Their first half was more in keeping with their performance last week vs Everton, and they need to find a formula in midfield to enable them to link defence and attack much better. Lo Celso made a big difference when he came on, and one has to imagine he is exactly the type of player to do just that. If they can keep it tighter at the back, and move the ball with more precision and confidence in midfield, they will be a scary prospect for any team this season.
James Rodriguez is one of the best players in the Premier League
It is no shame if you don’t quite make the cut at Real Madrid. The high profile nature of the club means any hint of failure can see a player labelled as a ‘flop’ and finished at the highest level, but this can sometimes be far from the truth. Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben are two examples of players who didn’t quite fit, but went on to have exceptional, world class careers.
James then, is no busted flush. He fell foul of changing systems and tactics, and never quite fit in Zidane’s plans. In that, he clearly is not alone. He thrives as the main creative hub of the team, with the trust of his manager and teammates to make things happen. No manager trusts him more than Carlo Ancelotti, and Everton were desperately crying out for someone of his stature and status to star for them. His two performances so far have shown that he will be capable of doing exactly that. He also has the ability to wind up the opposition, as Gibbs found out to this detriment, receiving one of the most senseless red cards you could hope to see.
West Brom started the better team, and went ahead with a superb solo goal from Grady Diangana, who shone throughout. Everton’s style of play, with the wingers tucking infield and the fullbacks bombing on, suit their strengths extremely well, as Coleman showed for Calvert-Lewin’s first goal. Rodriguez then took centre stage and fired an accurate strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
West Brom, shorn of their manager who also received a red card at half time, came out fighting and were deservedly level when Pereira curled an unstoppable freekick into the top corner. However, their terrible marking from set pieces cost them dearly, conceding three of Everton’s five goals from these situations. Digne’s wonderful delivery will be the stuff of dreams for Calvert-Lewin and Everton fans though, such is the sheer quality and consistency of his dead balls. He got two assists, as Michael Keane and Calvert-Lewin benefited.
A special mention for Calvert-Lewin, who scored his first senior hattrick. Following Duncan Ferguson’s faith and tutelage in his brief time as caretaker manager, he has gone from strength to strength. Many thought that Carlo Ancelotti wouldn’t fancy him when he took charge, but he has instead entrusted him to lead the line and fire this team up the league - Calvert-Lewin is doing just that. He has always had high work rate, physicality and quality link up play, but now he has added goals to his game. His heading is brilliant, and if he can continue working on his finishing with both feet, he could genuinely become one of the best strikers in the league.
IFAB gets it horribly wrong.
It is an offence if a player touches the ball with their hand/arm when:
their hand/arm has made their body unnaturally bigger
their hand/arm is above/beyond their should level
The above offences apply even if a ball touches a player’s hand/arm directly from the head or body (including the foot) of another player who is close.
The new handball law is farcical, plain and simple. Whatever they were thinking when they made this change, they have got it embarrassingly wrong. To state that the intent behind a handball is irrelevant is one of the worst rule changes ever seen in football. The penalties conceded by Tottenham’s Doherty, Man Utd’s Lindelöf and Leeds’s Koch (stop sniggering) were absolutely scandalous and the rule needs immediate review. The rule is ruining the sport and making a mockery out of the art of defending in the box. Hang your heads in shame IFAB.