Gameweek 8 – Crisis Mode for Many?
Just as the Premier League hits its stride once more, the international break pops out of slumber and interrupts all the fixings this club season has created. Luckily for us, the past weekend’s fixtures brought with it some storylines that will surely satisfy our cravings over the next week.
Man City can’t make up its mind about which title it wants to win, Man United seem indifferent on winning anything, Liverpool can’t seem to not win, and Spurs can’t grab a win away form home if their club depended on it. Here’s a recap of a wild weekend that was.
Nightmare of the Week
Despite Spurs receiving a mid-week, home-stadium, 7-2 drubbing at the hands of Germany’s best club, questions about the legitimacy of the final score line still permeated through the North London clouds. Was the final result just a fluke? Were Bayern just lucky that virtually every meaningful chance they took found the back of the net? Were Spurs simply unlucky on an off day?
Tottenham’s next two games, against Brighton and Watford (after the international break) were perfect proving grounds to sort those musings out.
But by the end 90 minutes at the AMEX on Saturday, the truth of the matter became clear.
Brighton put in a controlling performance against Spurs at home that up with a comprehensive 3-0 victory. The most crucial of the goals came three minutes after the opening whistle.
Neal Maupay bundled a mishandled ball from Lloris over the line in the third minute. The lasting impact came when Lloris landed awkwardly on his left arm during the sequence and was promptly stretchered off with an oxygen covering his mouth. No immediate diagnosis was given, but by the looks of things Lloris could be out for the rest of the season. A huge blow for a Spurs team with a backline that has looked shaky at best this season.
From then on out, Brighton wrestled the match from Spurs’ possession and put in a thoroughly dominating performance. 19-year-old Irishman Aaron Connolly doubled the lead in the 32nd and added another in the second half to deepen the misery on Pochettino’s men.
For Brighton, the headlines should concentrate on their breathtaking performance. In the 84th minute, repeated throngs of ‘ole!’ and ‘We want seven!’ were ringing through the Amex as Brighton passed Tottenham out of the park. Graham Potter’s boys outmatched Tottenham in all aspects to come away with their first victory against Tottenham in 36 years.
Yet the storylines will inevitably remain laser-focused on Spurs and their horrid week that was. A week that reflects a glaring undertone that has gone relatively unsaid this year. Spurs just aren’t that good of a team.
10 goals conceded in two games, the most in nearly 42 years. 13 losses and nine wins in their last 29 games. No wins away from home since January against Fuham. It’s a recipe that would explode in almost any manager’s face.
However, questions of team continuity and happiness are now coming thick and fast. An arrow that is so often pointed at Daniel Levy during times of downturn is now slowly swinging the direction of Mauricio Pochettino.
After the match, Pochettino seemed a little too cool in the face of mounting pressure. “We cannot underestimate this kind of situation, but in the times that are not so good there is always the possibility to make things stronger.”
Spurs are in crisis. It’s time to seriously inhale this notion. A club which holds aspirations of major trophies has conceded one too many ‘off days’ like the one just witnessed. And despite Pochettino having a world class status, his ability to right the ship in this situation should be carefully analyzed.
The loss against Bayern was gutting. But Saturday’s loss to Brighton could prove damaging to the fabric of the club.
Glitch of the Week
We can’t say we haven’t been here before. Just three weeks ago we were lamenting Manchester City’s woeful inability to defend Norwich City’s counterattack, allowing the frail underdogs to steal three points from under the reigning champs’ noses. But this loss feels different – more telling of City’s fatal flaw, and more revealing of a glitch in the system Pep has built.
It had been flagged by plenty of people prior to the season. City’s main concern was their lack of an insurance policy were their center-backs to go down with injury. Well – with Aymeric Laporte’s knee injury ruling him out until 2020, and John Stones’ inability to be fully fit – the carriage has turned back into the pumpkin.
Pep Guardiola has attempted to mask the issue with 34-year-old (and defensive midfielder by trade) Fernandinho and 31-year-old Nicolas Otamendi. But once again, against a team willing and capable of a deathly counter attack, City’s center-backs crumbled via mistakes of their own (I mean, Otamendi broke every law of defending on that attempted tackle against Jimenez). Pep might need to come to terms that his first-choice center backs are not suited for open field defending, and thus needs to address a plan in which their fatal flaw isn’t exposed so significantly.
On top of the main issue, a more subtle glitch seems to be appearing at City – their offense without De Bruyne.
It’s well known the Belgian international possesses the keys to unlock any defense with one whip of a cross. But City seem to lack a spark of creativity when he’s not in the lineup. Both against Wolves (ruled out with injury) and Norwich (rested in the first half, then came on when it was too late) City found their way to the foot of the door on more than a few occasions, but could never break through with that final pass or creative playmaking.
It comes as a surprise that City find themselves eight points off Liverpool’s lead eight matches into the campaign. An old Pep Guardiola quote from Marti Peranau’s book “Pep Confidential” has been making the rounds this weekend. “League titles are won in the last eight games, but they are lost in the first eight.” All is not lost for City, but they can’t afford many more bad days in the office like against Wolves.
Leaving it Late of the Week
Just one week after they manage to squeak by a reluctantly gritty Sheffield side, Liverpool upped the ante of drama at home against Leicester and nosed out a 2-1 95th minute winner from the spot.
After delivering one of the most delicious assists of the season to Sadio Mane in the first half, James Milner played Anfield hero for the day and calmly put away the late penalty by way of Marc Albrighton’s leg-dangle that Mane (albeit soft) took advantage of.
Despite the close score line, Liverpool controlled the match for at least an hour. “The only problem was that we only scored one goal,” Klopp said after the match. The rather prosaic truth is that with better finishing his side would have been out of Leicester’s reach long before the end, with Roberto Firmino, Andy Robertson and Georginio Wijnaldum all failing to put away excellent chances at 1-0.
The lesson for Liverpool is pretty simple; keep finding three points any which way you can. There are times to be flashy, and times to just grit out a victory. In the eyes of Jurgen Klopp, Leicester were a spirited opponent with a former Red as manager, it was a game set up for dropping points. And now they march on to Old Trafford with a record-equaling 18 straight win in their sight.
Firestorm of the Week
Let’s put aside the negative for a moment and focus on the heartwarming story of Matty and Sean Longstaff making their brotherly Premier League debut together in Newcastle colors. It would be Longstaff minor, 19-year-old Matty, who put the dagger in the hearts of the visitors with an arrow of a shot from 25-yards-out, leaving tears on the cheeks of many within the grounds, including the goal-scorer himself.
Maybe Steve Bruce and Newcastle United might not be heading for a painful, and very public, divorce after all. Bruce has now managed to pull off 1-0 victories against Spurs and United, the latter of which he spent many days anchoring Sir Alex Ferguson’s defense.
OK, niceties are over. Strip away the story above and what’s revealed beneath is a simple and honest assumption of Manchester United; they’re currently a mid-table club at best. It’s a thought that most United fans could never imagine, yet eight games into the season, they languish in 12th spot, just 2 points above the relegation zone.
Bruce’s Benitez-esque 3-4-3 formation gave United fits in midfield, prompting stagnant performances from Solskjaer’s young guns, who have not lived up billing or even papered the cracks well enough for this team to be in the fight for the top 6. They’re a side that’s completely one-dimensional. Other than playing in transition, there’s not much they know how to do, and there’s little creativity with Paul Pogba out.
If we’re being honest, ‘firestorm’ is a friendlier substitute for what’s really going on behind the doors at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer is just one of many issues at this club, no matter how much faith Woodward and the Glazers want to place in him. But if the Norwegian were to get the boot, it would feel almost meaningless. The main issue lies in the core of the ownership group, rotting away the fiber’s Alex Ferguson used to stich the giant together. Change will obviously take time, but that means it requires a real appetite for that change from the owners.
Rapidfire Points
We spent a long time delving on the main points and storylines form the weekend, so here’s some snippets to catch you up on everything else you might have missed.
Hotseat of the Week
Turf Moore is not a place you want to go if you’re a manager on the hot seat. Marco Silva is a man running on his last fumes as manager of Everton at the moment. Recipe for disaster.
Jeff Hendrick volleyed home a wonderful strike in the second half at Turf Moore, sealing 3 points for Dyche’s side against a woeful Everton who have now lost 4 straight. Everton, with a starting lineup costing more than £250m, were doleful from start to finish. The clock is ticking on the uninspiring manager of an uninspiring team. For a man who was even touted for the Chelsea job over the summer, things must turn around quickly.
Tall of Two Paths of the Week
Norwich earned the billing of giant killers only three weeks ago. But now they’re magnitude of injuries, especially to the back line, fears to be catching up to them once and for all. Three defeats in a row, this time around to Aston Villa in a 5-1 drubbing, are exposing the limits of Farke’s attacking minded style of management with the personnel on hand. It also doesn’t help when your striker of nearly thirty goals last season disappears all of a sudden. Fantasy owners and Canary fans alike are looking at Pukki to turn things around.
On the flip side, Dean Smith has his Villa team looking rejuvenated. Many feared Villa would “pull-a-Fulham” with their upwards of $100 million spent over the summer and nothing to show for it during the season. However, things appear to be clicking for the promoted side. John McGinn and Wesley are firing on all cylinders. And Jack Grealish is settling into form while sparking creative juices into his side. Look for Villa to continue their runoff good form over the next few weeks.
Stinginess of the Week
In the eyes of Palace fans, VAR may be the Premier League’s saving grace. For Wet Ham, it only brings more of the same misery from before. West Ham had a chance to go top 4 in the league with a win over Palace, but Jordan Ayew’s disallowed goal was overturned by VAR, giving the stingy visitors a crucial three points in a London derby.
West Ham’s ability to control the game was stifled in the central midfield by Palace addition by way of Everton, James MacArthur. The Hammers remain in good standing in the table but have yet to rack up a statement victory. As for Palace, Roy Hodgson’s boys keep quietly gathering points, and could make a case for European competition come May given their ability to play defensive first football.
Streak of the Week
Chelsea managed to bump their winning streak to four matches in a row with a 4-1 thumping over Southampton. Tammy Abraham continued his fine form with a cheeky goal that looped out of the Saint Mary’s Stadium and just over the touchline. Don’t look now, but the Boys from the Bridge are putting together a nice little run, and shyly sit tied for 5th in the standings. Lampard has his youngsters humming along. And with a favorable fixture list in the weeks to come – while the rest of the traditional top 6 continue to fumble their opportunities – Chelsea seem poised to make a fair run at the top 4.
Zeke Ouellette Media 