EPL Matchday 5 observations Chelsea The Blues may have drawn with Manchester City, but for me they still remain title favourites. Perhaps Frank Lampard scoring was fated to happen, but the game showed that despite Diego Costas good form, Chelsea will not over-rely on him for goals and Andre Schurrle remains an important part of the squad, whether as a starter or off the bench. Costa himself was a tad fortunate that he wasnt sent off, but he will have learnt from the way he was expertly marshalled by Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala. Manchester City The introduction of Eliaquim Mangala seems to be the final piece in the jigsaw for Manchester City. The French international looked monstrous in defence and perhaps he would be the reason why City will not let go of the title easily. Manuel Pellegrini seems to have a squad as good as Chelseas, except maybe in the goalkeeping department. To grind out a result after Pablo Zabaletas red card speaks volumes of how mentally strong Manchester City has become.Together with Chelsea, still favourites for the title. Arsenal For some time now, Arsena Wenger has been grappling with where to play Mesut Ozil, who remains impressive for Germany but not too much so for the Gunners. Handing him a free role on Saturday however helped destroy a hitherto unbeaten Aston Villa. Three goals in three minutes was impressive and Danny Welbeck is also benefitting from playing through the centre. If Arsenal is to challenge for the title, then another central defender and defensive midfielder is needed. For the moment, Arsenal look outsiders for the title though. Southampton All the Saints need now is consistency and that could easily make them a contender for a top 4 place. Ronald Koeman is working wonders at the club and even though its early days, lying second after five games shows that the exodus of top players has actually helped the club. Players like Jamie Ward-Prowse, Vincent Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin have become better players under Koemans management and the team looks really solid. Jack Cork is slowly but surely becoming one of the best holding midfielders in the Premier League and what Koeman needs is to orchestrate consistent performances. Liverpool Its official; Liverpools central defence is in tatters and the entire team, save Raheem Sterling is out of form and a combination of loss of form, coupled with new players jelling, would mean that it will take time for the Reds to click. Make no mistake, Brandan Rodgers has a collection of good players, but some big decisions are needed. Steven Gerrard is out on his legs as a protector of the back four and maybe the Capital One game against Middlesbrough will allow the manager to make a few changes to restore confidence, but at the moment, Liverpool are not looking like top four contenders at all. Manchester United Many would kill to have an attacking line up that boasts the likes of Radamel Falcao, Robin Van Persie, Angel di Maria, Wayne Rooney and Ander Herrera, with Daley Blind as the water carrier. At the same time, many would also kill to avoid the type of defence the team has now. Losing Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand was not the real problem, but failing to adequately replace them is a challenge that is coming back to bite Louis Van Gaal. I will freely admit that Mark Clattenberg got some decisions wrong. He should have penalised James Vardy for the foul on Rafael, but Rafael retaliated and that resulted in the penalty. So I guess you might say that Clattenberg had a hand in the 3-5 loss to Leicester, but in truth, Uniteds defence was the real reason. Marcos Rojo may have to shift to central defence as a short term measure until January, but United would need to buy one or two quality centre halves, otherwise the work of the star studded frontline would be negated. As of now, Chelsea and Manchester City remain my favourites for the title and Arsenal, Manchester United and Southampton are fighting for Champions League places. Liverpool are rank outsiders now for a top four place and failure to improve on time could cost the team. #myownthoughts
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 12:14:00 +0000
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