3 Things We Learnt: Premier League Weekend: 20/09/14 - 21/09/14

1) Liverpool are struggling to rediscover their red hot form of last season 




Following the departure of their top goalscorer Luis Suarez to Barcelona in the summer, it was always going to be difficult for Liverpool to reach the heights that they achieved last year. However with 3 defeats from their last 4 league games, life without Suarez is proving to be even harder than previously anticipated. On top of this an injury sustained to striker Daniel Sturridge means that it's tough to see where Liverpool's goals are going to come from. Neither Lucas nor Henderson are prolific goal scorers and Steven Gerrard now plays in a position which sees him rarely go into the opposition's penalty area. Despite doing well on loan to Sunderland last season, there were questions in this weekend's game at West Ham as to whether Fabio Borini is in fact good enough to be a striker for Liverpool football club. And then there's Mario Balotelli who has all the ability in the world but has is restricted by poor attitude and work ethic. The only hope Liverpool currently have in producing the goods is Raheem Sterling who is playing out of his skin at the moment for both club and country. However this is a massive responsibility to carry a team when he is only 19 years of age. In their last few games, they've really struggled to create chances. But in their 3-1 defeat to West Ham on Saturday evening, it was their defensive deficiencies which emerged as their main problem. Their new look defence failed to deal with simple balls played over the top, and within just 7 minutes they were 2-0 down. Throughout the remainder of the match West Ham's front four of Valencia, Downing, Sakho and Kouyate were able to frequently exploit Liverpool's weak and slow defence. If Liverpool are to secure another top 4 finish this season, then they MUST address these issues.




2) Leicester City are showing that they are here to stay



When Nigel Pearson saw his team's fixture list for the upcoming season, his heart must've sank. The opening five games saw his Leicester City side face visits from big boys Everton, Arsenal and Manchester United and  a trip to title favourites Chelsea. However it clearly hasn't fazed him, or his team, in the slightest. In all of their opening five games, they've played on the front foot with very little fear, which has led to some really entertaining football and positive results, while fellow promoted sides Burnley and QPR  have played in a much more defensive way and are currently both sat in the relegation zone. If taking points off Arsenal and Everton showed that Leicester aren't a side to be underestimated, then their 5-3 thumping of Manchester United showed that they are a real force in this league. Despite being 3-1 down with just less than half an hour of the game to go, the Foxes tore United's inexperienced defence and midfield to pieces. Jamie Vardy never stopped running, and had a key part to play in all 5 goals (4 assists and 1 goal), while in  Leonardo Ulloa, Leicester have found a world class goal scorer who is in hot form (scoring 5 goals in his last 5 league games). If they can continue to build on these early signs of promise, then there no reason why they shouldn't set their sights on a top 10 finish.



3) Lampard keeps City in the title race




Now with only 5 games into the new season, it would seem ridiculous to suggest that a team has already won the league. However, Chelsea's blistering start accompanied by the rivals dropping points means that they are certainly in the driving seat at the top of the Premier League table. If they'd have beaten Manchester City on Sunday it would've put them 7 points ahead of their main title rival, so therefore it was vitally important that they didn't lose the game. Down to 10 men and a goal down with just 5 minutes remaining, it was looking like a big win for Jose Mourinho's side. But then up popped Chelsea hero Frank Lampard, who stabbed the ball home to give City a late equaliser and rescue a point for the current champions of England. Not only was it difficult to take in that he had scored AGAINST the club where he had spent 13 happy years at, but it's the goal;'s significance which would've caused Lampard the most discomfort. Managing to salvage a point when you've had a man sent off in a big game like that was huge for Manchester City. Not just in terms of points on the board was it important, but in terms of psychologically too. Chelsea know that they should've seen off the game, but that would've felt like a defeat for them as they were so close to creating a huge gap between themselves and City. While the Manchester City players have proved to themselves that they do have the resilience and mental strength to come back when the chips were down so to speak. If City do end up winning the title, it'll be this game and more importantly Frank Lampard's goal which may well prove to be a key moment in the title race.

Bold Hodgson silences critics with big win in Basel

I imagine that 'baffled' would probably be the word used to describe Roy Hodgson as he opened his newspaper on Thursday morning, with headlines such as 'Mr Angry' dominating the back pages. There was no doubt that his sides' 1-0 win against Norway was an underwhelming one, but the England manager was more than justified in trying to defend his teams' performance. He was also correct in objecting to the statistic that was thrown his way about his side having only two shots on target during the game. "When we had that much possession, that much ball in and around their box, those players throwing themselves at the ball to stop shots from going on, and you wanna talk to me about two shots on target?" was Hodgson's response. He has a point, you know. Although sadly there was a distinct lack of tempo to England's game, the attacking intent was all there as were numerous chances. So the two shots on target stat did feel a little irrelevant under the circumstances, let's not forget England actually won the game. Not only was the decision of the press to go on a Roy Hodgson witch hunt strange, but  the timing  was particularly bizarre. They've had all summer to  write about Roy Hodgson and his failings to deliver at the World Cup, so why on earth leave it to the  week leading up to a crucial European Championship qualifier? Utterly ludicrous.

But the doom mongers were silenced last night, as Hodgson's brave tactics led England to victory in arguably their most difficult qualifying match of this campaign. His decision to play a diamond in midfield and play with two strikers in what was being billed as a "must not lose game" dispelled any notion that Roy is a cautious tactician. Although many were concerned that this would result in the team being far too narrow and exposed in wide areas, Henderson and Delph were excellent at pressurising the two Swiss defensive midfielders into frequent mistakes. Hodgson should also be applauded for his decision to hand Delph his first start for England. Despite an early rash challenge which resulted in a booking, the Villa man was very well disciplined and was always willing to receive the ball. In the end it was two well taken goals from Danny Welbeck which saw England take all three points on the night. And whose decision was it to start Welbeck and play him as a centre forward?





Now don't get me wrong, I was as disappointed as any England fan with how badly we performed at this summer's World Cup and agree that Hodgson has to take the blame for it. But the FA has stuck by him and, on last night's evidence at least, so should we. By giving these young players a chance to play in a crucial qualifier and by putting them in a system which gives them license to go out and express themselves, they will progress into much better players and as a result we will have a much stronger national team.  Last night's performance not only got us off to a great start in terms of our qualification campaign for the Euros, but was a perfect platform for our young players to show that, playing under Hodgson, they will be able to compete in France come 2016.

5 Things We Learnt: Premier League weekend 30/1/14 - 31/1/14

1) Arsenal MUST buy a striker before the transfer window closes



With Olivier Giroud out till the New Year due to a broken leg, Arsene Wenger has to find a soultion to who will be the club's target man for the next four months. He's tried a variety of different alternatives, none of which have been fruitful for the Frenchman. Despite clearly having great potential, Yaya Sanogo looks out of depth playing at this level of football. On Sunday's game against Leicester, he frequently mis-controlled the ball and was caught offside on several occasions. He needs time to be nurtured and to develop his game; not thrown in at the deep end against the top defences in the country. Wenger has also used new signing Alexis Sanchez in the lone striker role for 45 minutes against Everton but again this proved to be unsuccessful (the Chilean failed to have a single touch of the ball in the opponent's penalty area, and was consequently subbed off at half time). Arsenal have many creative players, but the chances they create are largely wasted due to a real lack of orthodox number 9s in the squad. Arsenal fans must have really hated it looking on their phones at half time on Sunday to see that Chelsea had signed Loic Remy for a mere £10.5m while they were struggling to overcome newly promoted Leicester. With the Gunners starting the season with 5 poor performances in a row, Arsene must surely get the cheque book out and bring in a centre forward.


2) Manchester City may have the best squad in the division, but the players can't turn up simply expecting to win



Now there is no doubt that credit must be given to Stoke for a brilliant performance and they must be given credit for frustrating the Premier League champions. However on watching the game, it soon became apparent that many of their players were putting in very minimal effort. When you don't play with any real tempo or purpose, and defend with limited concentration, teams who are set-up to go on the counter attack like Stoke, will punish you for it. Throughout the 90 minutes, they rarely threatened the Stoke City goal and their defending for the goal was absolutely pitiful. The fact that Diouf was able to travel from mid-way inside his own half to the Manchester City penalty area virtually unchallenged was disgraceful. But this isn't merely a blip, there were many occasions last season where they simply didn't play with any kind of intensity and switched off defensively. If they wish to retain the title, they cannot afford to let those kind of performances become a recurring feature.


3) Southampton look to be putting their nightmare summer behind them



Following the departures of  5 first team players and manager Mauricio Pochettino, Saints fans can be excused for fearing the worst ahead of the new season. However three positive performances including a comprehensive win over West Ham at the weekend, means that there is grounds for optimism at St Mary's. The new signings appear to be settling in well, while the youngsters Ward Prowse and Clyne seem to be coming on leaps and bounds. Now all they need is to keep hold of Morgan Schneiderlin until the transfer window shuts...


4) No quick fix for Van Gaal at United



Failing to win any of their opening four matches and only managing to muster two goals in total, it's fair to say that the Louis Van Gaal era at Old Trafford has got off to a terrible start. Defensively, they look extremely vulnerable. The new 3-5-2 formation does spread the defensive responsibilities round a bit more, but with a very inexperienced back 3 of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tyler Blackett behind a midfield 5 which offers them very little defensive protection, Manchester United need to seriously consider dipping into the transfer market and buying some defenders. 


5) Martinez has to address Everton's defensive frailties



When Roberto Martinez was appointed Everton manager in June of last year, the one main concern was how his philosophy of attacking football would affect Everton's ageing defence. Well, nothing screams out louder that you need to sort out your team's defensive situation than conceeding 10 goals in your opening 3 matches. Club captain Phil Jagielka set the tone for a disastrous defensive display against Chelsea on Saturday, trying to catch Diego Costa offside which back-fired spectacularly. Martínez now has a delicate decision to make regarding his captain after the international break. “If we keep conceding goals like that it means the competition for places needs to be open,” said Martínez on Saturday. “I’ll allow football to make those decisions. We’ve got very good centre-halves that at the moment are not playing.”