EPL Match day 9 Review Observations Chelsea For once I have to say that Jose Mourinho got it wrong and let Manchester United off the hook. After Didier Drogba got the goal against Manchester United, Mourinho should have replaced the Ivorian with Andre Schurrle, whose record of goalscoring for an attacker is quite impressive. Instead, he chose to bring on John Obi Mikel and tried to shut the game out. It rather invited United to attack; culminating in the equalizer. I would not fault Phil Dowd for giving the freekick and sending Ivanovic off, but I would rather fault the Chelsea defenders for not reacting quickly enough when Thibaut Courtois saved Marouane Felliani’s header. Mourinho would have been happy with a point, but he could so easily have had three. Manchester City Manuel Pellegrini’s side lost to a better side on the day in West Ham United and already, questions are being asked of Eliaquim Mangala’s performances. Allowing Diafra Sakho to outjump him for the second goal raised questions about his ability and he is yet to find a level of consistency in defence. Again, in the 1-2 loss to West Ham United, it was obvious that Manchester City has a soft core in the middle of the park, with neither Yaya Toure nor Fernando effectively breaking up play and that allowed Mark Noble and his team-mates to constantly orchestrate attacks. Finding the right balance in midfield is a task Pellegrini would have to undertake so that he continues to get the best out of Sergio Aguero and David Silva amongst other. Arsenal Alexis Sanchez is fast becoming the ace in Arsene Wenger’s pack. Even though the two goals the Chilean scored were as a result of mistakes, you can only beat what’s in front of you and defeating Sunderland has taken the Gunners to within two points of fourth place. With Theo Walcott to return to action after making a recovery from a long term injury, Wenger’s only worry would be nursing his patched up defence until January, but claiming a clean sheet against Sunderland would be heartening to the manager. West Ham United Beating the defending champions 2-1 would no doubt hearten Sam Allardyce and after a rather shaky start, the Hammers have taken everyone, including Allardyce by surprise. From worrying who to replace the injury hit Andy Carroll, now an intriguing question has arisen as to how Carroll will fit into the starting eleven, especially when Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia are doing so well, with Sakho scoring in each of his last six games so far. At the back, Winston Reid’s performances have resulted in the New Zealand international being linked with a move away, whilst Aaron Cresswell is looking really good at left back. Stewart Downing looks reborn in a central attacking midfield position and Mark Noble’s performances should probably land the lifelong Hammer an England call up. Consistency in results is what Allardyce would have to maintain, otherwise this could prove to be a flash in the pan. Southampton Ronald Koeman’s revolution goes on and a 1-0 win over a tough Stoke City side is further evidence that Southampton will motor on to get as many points as possible until tiredness or a loss of form sets in. The St Mary’s side seems to show a lot of durability and have started very well, with the best defence in the Premier League so far. Consistency would be something Koeman would aim for and he would be hoping that his side maintains performance levels for a long time yet. Manchester United Sunday’s game against Chelsea showed up a lot of things. For starters, Marouane Fellaini deserves a run of matches and should probably be Daley Blind’s partner in midfield in order to shield a defence that is not one of the best in the Premier League. Also, the performance of Adnan Januzaj asks serious questions of whether Juan Mata has a long term future at Old Trafford, and perhaps Louis Van Gaal is beginning to lean towards a 4-2-3-1 formation, which would also see one of Falcao or Robin Van Persie warming the bench in order for the team to have more balance. The enforced absences of Falcao and Wayne Rooney allowed Van Persie to play better as the loan forward, but Mata could not play off him too effectively and that forced Fellaini to fill in, leaving a gap in midfield. For me, United is improving nonetherless and Van Gaal would have a headache as to who to field when everyone is fit. One player who is untouchable for now is Angel di Maria, who may not have had his best game, but his freekick led to the equalizer. Liverpool After the 3-0 humbling at the hands of Real Madrid, it was always going to be difficult bouncing back and against Hull City, it showed. Even though Liverpool failed to score in a 0-0 draw, from what I saw, the team looked solid at the back and this was a first clean sheet in 19 matches in all competitions for the club. Despite evidence to the contrary, I believe that both Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert would eventually come good and gradually all the new signings would jell. It has been a troubling time of transition and Liverpool is still yet to hit top form, but it would eventually come. For me, Chelsea and Manchester City remain title contenders, with Manchester United, Arsenal, Southampton and Liverpool battling for the top four spots. West Ham United remains a dark horse and only consistency would see them considered as serious top four contenders.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:50:00 +0000
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