Two overwhelming positives for Manchester United, Jadon Sancho's redemption arc starts here and Everton let another two-goal lead slip
Two overwhelming positives for Manchester United, Jadon Sancho's redemption arc starts here and Everton let another two-goal lead slipNorth London is Arsenal’s, as their set-piece prowess and Tottenham’s sterile possession allowed Mikel Arteta’s team to overcome midfield absentees and move up to second in a nascent Premier League table.
We are four games into their Premier League season and the gauntlet has been thrown down. Pep Guardiola has a lead at the top and we usually know what that means. They have now won 13 league games on the spin and that doesn’t even seem worth mentioning anymore, so routine is it. This time they fell behind and only won by a single goal, so that’s something new.
Instead, Guardiola has got the old band back together. With Foden and Rodri missing and Ilkay Gundogan returned, he and De Bruyne have become the same one-two punch and, more importantly, De Bruyne has stepped up as City’s creative force. But then this team has an extraordinary backbone. If they crumbled a little under the pressure of a title race two years ago it made them stronger. Whoever plays, this is a team.
Initially, the changes appeared to have made an impact, but it was then Wolves who nearly doubled their lead when Lemina picked out Larsen and the striker struck low against the post. This was from the Jhon Duran meets Barclaysmen school of just going for it, and finding out what happens. The result was Newcastle scoring two goals from outside the box in a Premier League game for the first time since 2018.
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s sensational winner did not only earn Nottingham Forest a sensational first victory at Anfield in 55 years, when Bill Shankly’s side were humbled, but something that almost never happens on the red half of Merseyside.Forest were good value for their success and deserved to win on the famous old ground, a success that keeps them unbeaten at the start of the new campaign and ends Arne Slot’s perfect start to his Liverpool tenure with a rude awakening.
No team can rely on that every week, but falling behind at Anfield needs to rouse more of a response than Forest faced on Saturday. Indeed, the reactions said it all. Emiliano Martinez was left open-mouthed, while even opposing goalkeeper Jordan Pickford could not help but watch the replay on the big screens as Villa fans gasped at every angle.
So far this season, Brighton have had more shots than any other team . However, only five teams have taken shots, on average, further from goal: Leicester, Southampton, Wolves, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth. The theory emerges: are Brighton just having lots of shots because they are shooting from too far out and thus amassing xG without creating enough high-quality chances.
Forest have bought a lot of players in the past few seasons, but to be able to call on players of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s ability off the bench shows just how much strength in depth they’ve got. We need a lot more evidence before we can conclude that Sancho’s spirit has been fully restored – Chelsea is, like United, a club where dawns are too often false. But after a horribly difficult period and a failed move, it would be brilliant to see Sancho fly again. He’s still only 24.
Isn’t it just. Wissa started 29 league games last season and Mbeumo just 22. With Ivan Toney now gone, Frank knows how important that combination of forwards is to Brentford’s success this season, particularly given Igor Thiago’s extended absence and Kevin Schade and Keane Lewis-Potter still both a little raw.
The other is the early indication a coherent defence is forming at United, something Ten Hag has not had since he joined. And alongside De Ligt, Martinez won all four of his ground duels, made four interceptions and completed 97 per cent of his passes . Despite conceding the penalty, Dalot went on to make two key passes and one big chance, completing 94 per cent of his passes and four ground duels. Mazraoui continued his remarkably sound start, sharp in tight spaces.
The Brazilian badly needs a goal. When a club of Bournemouth’s size spends £40m on a striker, and that striker is replacing a prolific Premier League goalscorer, it creates undue focus on how that striker starts. For all the compliments over his general play, Evanilson will be judged on his goal record.
But with Joachim Andersen the best player on the pitch on his first start back in west London, Sander Berge strong off the bench and Smith Rowe coordinating everything, this could prove to be a remarkable summer window. That trio fit naturally into a team which includes one of the league’s best left-backs in Antonee Robinson and an Adama Traore whose final decision making appears to be improving, although he missed multiple good chances on Saturday.
Michail Antonio, long the benchmark for attacking consistency in east London, didn’t manage a shot or a dribble in his 45 minutes on the pitch, hooked for Crysencio Summerville having lost possession more than once every four minutes. Mohammed Kudus is among the most euphoric footballers in England, capable of doing anything he sets his mind to, a selection box of freewheeling invention matched by brutal power. That he could now be combined with Summerville, Jarrod Bowen, Paqueta and Carlos Soler should be a sumptuous treat, fusion jazz rather than the dirge fans witnessed at Craven Cottage.
It’s easy to make gags about replacing David Moyes with his Spanish equivalent, but Moyes’s success and impact was undeniable. Fans tired of defensive football but it was always fairly simple to justify that the occasional frustration and boredom justified the results, until it didn’t. Cooper’s problem is that he is fighting against a tide of opinion and has a reputation of making defensive substitutions that invite pressure. Rather than the end result being a cause for cheer, a 2-2 draw away at an established Premier League side, throwing away a lead late on gives everything a negative inflexion.
2) Glasner loves his full-backs to attack and create overlaps, thus allowing the wide players to tuck in and support the central striker. Daniel Munoz has been a transformative signing on the right, effective both going forward and back. On the left, and despite slightly angry calls for him to be included in England’s squad for the Euros, Tyrick Mitchell doesn’t quite have the same attacking impetus and it is hampering Glasner’s intended style.
Arijanet Muric earned one of those points on Saturday. Kieran McKenna has often discussed the power of team defending, and clearly that’s right, but sometimes you need the last line of that defence to save your skin. Ipswich bought Muric this summer because they believed that he could be valuable in playing out from the back, but also because he is a magnificent shot stopper.This one will sting Wolves.
Lemina was the bright spark in a more advanced role, and while you could have thrown a blanket over Andre and Joao Gomes for most of the match, their combative partnership looks set to give their captain greater space in attack. It’s also worth saying that blame for Archer missing the first spot-kick he’d taken in a professional match has to fall as much on Stuart Attwell for making him wait nearly a minute to take it, and on Martin for putting someone so inexperienced under such great pressure.
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