Gameweek 14 – No One’s Catching Liverpool
It’s not melodramatic to believe the Premier League hasn’t displayed the highest quality of football this season. In fact, for at least for 18 of the league’s 20 teams, many of the outcomes have been mediocre and underwhelming.
Before you raise your pitchforks and turn the anti-VAR chants against me, hear me out on this one.
I understand this season is certainly more competitive than most in recent years, and the matches have had more than their fair share of water-cooler-drama moments. But beyond Liverpool and Leicester, are there teams we can point towards and say, ‘Now that’s a truly complete squad’?
It’s a given that the lower to mid-level sides are not astonishingly prepped for a blitz at the top of the table. Modern bloated budgets and club-owning oligarchs have plenty of say in that matter. But of the Big-6, only one club has matched, or even exceeded, their pre-season expectations; Liverpool. The rest of the pack are stuck in the mud.
Manchester City’s defenses holes have prevented them from finding high gear; Tottenham possessed no spark under a manager considered by many to one of the world’s best; Manchester United are a project with no roadmap; Chelsea have their owner’ pockets sewed up; and Arsenal continue to be top-heavy and just underwent a managerial change of their own.
So while Liverpool race out to an unprecedented start to the season, their biggest challengers continue to spin their wheels via internal issues. What’s slightly baffling is that we were in this same exact place not more than four years ago. And funny enough, Leicester are the team that could tilt the league’s best teams on their head in repeat of their title winning campaign in 2015-16
If Liverpool can maintain their stunning pace the rest of the season, or even if they crumble due to a bombardment of winter fixtures headed their way, what remains true is the fact they are the only Big-6 club that can currently look themselves in the mirror and be satisfied with their performance to date.
And with that, let’s review the weekend.
What is “Arsenal DNA?”
In a message to club supporters and media members on Friday morning, Josh Koenke (son of club owner Stan Kroenke) announced part of the reasoning behind appointing former Arsenal captain Freddie Llungberg as caretaker manager was due to his, “Arsenal DNA.” Unfortunately for Josh — and Freddie – that DNA was alive and well during the club’s 2-2 draw at Carrow Road against Norwich this weekend.
If not for the fortune of retaking a wonderfully saved penalty by Tim Krul, Arsenal used every ounce of luck to squeeze a point out of the league’s second-from-the-bottom team. Sparky in attack at times, but spineless in defense when it mattered most, Arsenal’s performance echoed many of those within the previous five years.
Llungberg has much to worry about for his likely short spell in charge. More is needed from the current lot of attacking playmakers, especially club priority signings of Nicolas Pepe, Dani Ceballos and Mesut Ozil. Not to mention the bevy of defensive reinforcements desperately needed.
In all fairness, Llungberg deserves some time to gel more with this fractured squad. But if Arsenal DNA continues to be the product we have witnessed this year, then maybe it’s time to hit the reset button.
Liverpool Can Win in Any Manner
At this point it’s a simple truth that Liverpool will be impossible to stop this season. Even in a match where Brighton managed to mirror a similar possession rate and create a fair share of chances, Liverpool’s 2-1 victory came down to an undervalued part of their game in which they’ve been quietly dominating for over a year; their set-pieces.
Virgil van Dijk’s two snapshot-shot headers in the first half not only pushed Liveprool into a comfortable driving seat, it marked the 39th and 40th set-piece goals since the start of last season – nine more than Bournemouth in second.
“You can be good in 90% of the pitch but if you are not good in that part they can do all sorts of things to hurt you,” Brighton manager Graham Potter said. “They’ve probably got the best deliverer of the ball and the best attacker of the ball in the world,” referring to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk.
Having one of the world’s best air-offense is merely adds to the bevy of attacking archives Liverpool can access at any moment. Heck, this team can even go through games without the hiccup of losing their goalkeeper on a straight red card effect their end result. All these moments and tests only end up re-enforcing just how impossible it will be to knock the Liver birds of their perch.
City Find More Ways to Slip
Tottenham was tough, but VAR could have easily swung the match the other way. Norwich came as a shock, but could be pinned down to defensive errors. Wolverhampton felt odd, but boiled down to missed opportunities up top. Liverpool was expected, but VAR once again played a central role.
Each of Manchester City’s dropped points this season could be pinned on specific points of concern or debate. It was quantifiable; a physical entity that could be tinkered and twitched by Pep Guardiola’s steaming mind. That is, until his team took a trip to Steve Bruce’s town.
City walked away from Newcastle with a numb feeling after a 2-2 draw. Even Pep seemed perplexed by the result, citing his team’s overwhelming domination as reason for confusion. However, domination aside, this was the first time points have gone missing due to a mental switch off from City.
Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez lacked creativity up top. And where Kevin De Bruyne found that spark in the goal of the weekend to put his side 2-1 up, Jonjo Shelvey matched with equal ferocity to make it four points out of six in City’s last two visits to St. James.
You could write this performance off as anther unlucky bout for the defending champs, but the theme of dropping points continues to rear its head and doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.
Rapid Fire Points
Martin’s Magic Touch
A couple weeks ago this author bemoaned Manuel Pellegrini for starting Roberto in place of the injured Lukasz Fabianski. His lackluster (to put it kindly) performance attributed to the East London side’s eight-game slide. But some of those wrongs were finally righted thanks to the heroics of Football League journey-man and Premier League debutant David Martin in net.
Martin put in a man-of-the-match performance in an Aaron Creswell supplied 1-0 victory against Chelsea for his boyhood club, where his father, Alvin, maintains his status as a club legend. After the final whistle, Martin raced across the grounds to embrace his father, moving many to tears.
For Hammer fans, Martin’s touch of magic came in a desperate time where the club are at a crossroads as to whether they should progress with Pellegrini at the helm or consider making a change before relegation looms too large. Stemming a lively Chelsea side could breathe some length in Pellegrini’s tenure.
Villa Play Ole’s Villains
For the second time in two weeks, Manchester United played part in a breathless affair that deservedly ended in a draw. Aston Villa came into Old Trafford with the swagger of their captain Jack Grealish, who curled home a superbly worked strike from the edge of the penalty area to put his side 1-0 up.
Rashford and Lindelof headers placed United back in the driver’s seat, but Tyrone Mings played the offsides line to perfection, solidifying a 2-2 result to the annoyance of the Old Trafford faithful.
The back and forth match made for an entertaining spectacle for the neutral but for Ole Gunnar Solskjær the bottom line is that United have won only four of 14 league games this season. So unless United conquer Spurs, City and Everton, then Solskjær will not better the 24 points from 17 matches José Mourinho had accrued before being sacked last year.
Leicester Keep Pace
Leicester might have just kept the title race alive with a last-gasp goal against Everton this weekend. With all but 30 seconds left, Keliche Ihenacho danced toe-in-toe with the last defender’s line and slotted home the winner. However, the goal wouldn’t come without it’s controversy when the linesman deemed Ihenacho to be inches offside, only for VAR to correctly confirm the standing of the goal.
The win marked 6 on the bounce for Brendan Rodgers, who’s name is now considered by bookmakers to be the number one option for the main role at Arsenal. Though why would he want to leave given how good his side are? His scenario is completely contrast to the manager who stood opposite to him on the touchline, Marco Silva, and felt the brunt force of Leicester’s last-minute escape. How long can Leicester keep the pace up?
A Deserved Draw for Two Bright Spots
Sheffield came into Molineux unbeaten on the road this season. Wolves came into the match having not lost in their previous eight matches. It was only fair both sides continued their strong runs by splitting the points in a 1-1 draw.
Lys Moussett opened the scoring in the 2nd minute to continue his fine form this season, finding the net on thirteen separate occasions. Wolves were equally confident on offense, with Matt Doherty’s header ensuring Sheffield wouldn’t escape without dropping a few points of their own. Don’t look now, but these sides are viable options for a Europa League spot come May and are especially hot on the heels of Big-6 clubs who’ve sputtered to start this season.
Zeke Ouellette Media 