1. Liverpool: Was Last Season Just An Outlier?
It seems every weekend is now a big weekend for Brendan Rodgers’ men, not least because, having started so poorly, each fixture is now viewed as a tipping point: is this the Liverpool of last season (handsome win), or the Liverpool of prior seasons past (anything less than a handsome win).
While it was (and still is) tempting for the Anfield faithful to view last season’s performance as the start of a new era – a return to the regular European football of Benitez if not the glory days of Shankley, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish – it is starting to look more and more probable that 2013-14 was merely an outlier; nothing more than the happy consequence of a striker-less Chelsea, a Fergie-less United, a Bale-less Tottenham and a spineless Arsenal. The Premier League was in a relative state of flux, and Liverpool possessed a degree of continuity. And Luis Suarez.
After six fixtures last season, Liverpool had 13 points. In three of their last five seasons, however, they’ve had only seven points or fewer at the same point. So in which direction is this Liverpool side travelling? Will it consolidate on last year or return to the prior pattern of mid-table mediocrity? They have a home game against West Brom in which to regain some momentum and put their mid-week Champions League disappointment behind them. They’ll be hoping Daniel Sturridge returns from injury in time: the striker has scored in each game he’s played against the Baggies since joining Liverpool.
2. Three Games That Mata
Juan Mata will have three games to show Louis van Gaal what he is made of. (Photo:@ESPNausNZ | Twitter)Juan Mata will have three games to show Louis van Gaal what he is made of. (Photo:@ESPNausNZ | Twitter)
If he wasn’t such a thoroughly nice chap, we suspect Juan Mata might feel a little aggrieved with how the last 18 months have gone. Voted Chelsea’s Player of the Year in 2012 (6 goals, 13 assists) and 2013 (12 goals, 12 assists), the returning Jose Mourinho suddenly deemed Mata’s midfield talents surplus to requirements.
How his spirits must have lifted when Manchester United paid the lion’s share of £40m to rescue him from his £100,000-a-week West London hell at the start of 2014; how his spirits must have tumbled once he’d witnessed David Moyes’ tactical acumen first-hand and been shunted out onto the wing.
This season, however, started promisingly for Mata: he was in his favoured central position tucked in behind the two main strikers, and he rewarded Louis van Gaal with two goals from his first four matches. But deadline day changed everything: ever since the acquisition of Radamel Falcao, he’s been forced back onto the bench to accommodate the presence of three strikers each deemed undroppable.
Thank God, then, for Wayne Rooney’s intelligence deficit. Mata now has three games, starting with Everton at home, in which to show van Gaal what he’s been missing, indeed potentially three games to save his United career.
A word of warning, however: Manchester United have won just one of their last five Premier League games against the Toffees and, of the four players to have scored a hat-trick against the Red Devils in the EPL, two could be lining up against them on Sunday (Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto’o).
3. #Winning
Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger will square off this Sunday. (Photo:@London24sport | Twitter)
Arsene Wenger rolls into Stamford Bridge this weekend looking to mark up his first win in 11 encounters with Jose Mourinho, and something tells us he’s unlikely to break that hoodoo any time soon. Thanks in no small part to the sensational form of Emirates old boy Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea are demonstrating an insatiable thirst for goals this season, averaging more than three strikes a game (in stark contrast to the less than two-a-game racked up last year). While both teams go into the tie unbeaten, Chelsea have scored 8 more goals than Arsenal and, crucially, secured six more points.
One man who’ll be especially keen to get his boots dirty is Didier Drogba, who’s scored an incredible 15 goals in 15 games against The Gunners. However, given the form of Diego Costa, and with Loic Remy lurking in the shadows, he’ll do well just to get on the pitch.
Whatever the result, Wenger will take a degree of smug satisfaction with him to West London. Mid-way through last season Mourinho labelled the Frenchman a “specialist in failure”. A few months later, Arsenal lifted the FA Cup. And what did Jose win? Zip. Zero. Nada. Nil. Nothing.
We wonder if Arsene will bring his winner’s medal with him...
4. When Will Roy Keane Spontaneously Combust?
Roy Keane almost lost his cool when Jose Mourinho went for a post game handshake before the final whistle. (Photo:@102greatgoals | Twitter)Roy Keane almost lost his cool when Jose Mourinho went for a post game handshake before the final whistle. (Photo:@102greatgoals | Twitter)
Since The18 drew attention to the fact that Aston Villa’s fine early season form was making a mockery of our relegation prediction, The Villains have lost twice, scored zero goals and shipped six. In their defence, they’ve played both Arsenal and Chelsea, but things don't get any easier this weekend with the visit of reigning Champions Manchester City. The light blues have won five of their last six games against Villa, while in-form Frank Lampard has scored more Premier League goals against the Birmingham-based side than any other team (including eight in his last six starts).
All of which begs the question: how long until Roy Keane spectacularly loses his sh*t? This, after all, is a man who, as a player, was used to winning: seven Premier Leagues, four FA Cups and one Champions League. Marry to that a temper with all the stability of custard and you have a recipe for the mother of all melt-downs.
We give it another two weeks.
5. Want A Goal-scorer On The Cheap? Go Dutch
Perceived wisdom holds the Premier League as the “best in the world”. Believing this to be an indisputable fact, the media and the league’s richest clubs focus almost exclusively on the acquisition of attacking talent already operating in a supposedly “comparable league”. Think: Ozil (La Liga), Di Maria (La Liga), Costa (La Liga), Sanchez (La Liga) Balotelli (Serie A), Aguero (La Liga) and you'll see what we mean.
The above are of course all great players, but equally they also cost a f*ck-ton (it’s an imperial measurement) of money. If recent seasons have taught us anything, it’s that the best strikers don’t necessarily come from La Liga or Serie A. If you want a goal-scorer, and you don’t want to pay the big league premium, go Dutch: after all, the Premier League’s top scorer in each of the last three seasons entered the EPL via the Eredivisie.
Sure, we hear you say, but you’re talking about Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie; that’s hardly representative. Perhaps not, but there’s depth here: Wilifred Bony (signed from Vitesse Arnhem for £12m) scored 17 goals last year; Graziano Pelle (Feyenoord, £8m) has already scored four goals in six this season; Nacer Chadli (FC Twente, £7m) also has four goals already, while Dusan Tadic (FC Twente, £11m) has the third-highest number of assists in the league so far.
The future’s bright. The future’s orange…
