Arsenal, Newcastle and Russell Martin are creating their own problems, while brilliant Bournemouth, Arne Slot’s Liverpool and Leicester’s subs all impressed.
Brighton
There are more salient points to make about Brighton, their ability to identify yet another upgrade on a coach many felt was above their station, the continued brilliance of Danny Welbeck and Bart Verbruggen’s development into a superb Premier League keeper.
But sod all that because far more importantly, Fabian Hurzeler has overseen different scorelines in each of his first eight Premier League games: 0-0, 1-1, 2-2, 1-0 (win), 2-1 (win), 3-2 (win), 3-0 (win) and 4-2 (loss). The smart money is on a 2-0 victory or 3-3 draw against Wolves next week.
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Bournemouth
“I think we need to improve, I think, from the games we played against these top three,” said Andoni Iraola in September. Bournemouth were beaten 3-0 by Liverpool the next day, but the 19 shots the Cherries racked up at Anfield were instructive; the visitors held their own but came up short in the decisive moments.
In their next opportunity against one of Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City, the opposite was true. Bournemouth benefited from an early red card and a penalty but showed that the gap to the elite can be bridged through hard work and tactical perfection.
Iraola has his statement win, a success to pin-point when the tide inevitably turns and doubts creep in again because that is the life of a mid-table manager trying to reach ever higher. Bournemouth’s current standing is such that they can go into the international break in low spirits after losing to Leicester, then come out of it on the unbeatable high of conquering Arsenal. If giving to the relatively poor is disappointing, it isn’t half offset by forcibly taking what you deserve from the rich.
These are the moments to cherish, build on and hold as proof that things are heading in the right direction. Iraola setting clear, attainable but difficult targets and reaching them within a month bodes well.
Bournemouth’s scouting
Saturday was bookmarked by two of the great selfless and goalless centre-forward performances. Dominic Solanke confounded West Ham and Evanilson disconcerted Arsenal. Bournemouth should be proud that they have managed to replace one with the other so seamlessly.
READ NEXT: Maddison sub ‘irrelevant’ as West Ham embarrassed by Spurs after Postecoglou gamble
Arne Slot
In equalling Roy Hodgson’s tally of Premier League wins as Liverpool manager in under half the games, Slot has proven himself slightly more capable of handling that difficult transition from a long and historic reign.
The Jurgen Klopp handover was a little more favourable than Rafa Benitez’s but Slot has thrived all the same, examining an excellent squad with a fresh pair of eyes – and crucially no new first-team additions – before recognising that while a new manager does not need to rip everything up, they should be able to pinpoint room for improvement.
This was not an attack which needed work; any shortcomings were in defence. Liverpool had a tendency to concede first, early and too frequently for a contender. Their last three seasons in which they allowed under a goal a game in the Premier League were the three in which they earned more than 90 points and competed for the title until the very end.
Under Slot, Liverpool have yet to concede a single first-half goal and only Juventus and Leipzig have conceded fewer goals in total in Europe’s top five leagues. This is an exceptional defensive team and that was the difference against Chelsea.
Do open 16 Conclusions in a new tab, forget all about it and then read them later.
Rasmus Hojlund
It is almost impressive just how strictly Hojlund is sticking to his pre-Manchester United record of roughly a goal every three games. That will have to improve over time for his signing to be more than a qualified success, but Erik ten Hag’s side are certainly better for the Dane’s presence.
Manchester United have lost 17 Premier League games since the start of last season and Hojlund has started eight of them. They have won 21 and Hojlund has started 13 of them, scoring decisive goals off the bench in a couple of those victories.
He is not the complete striker and will be required to learn on the job for the foreseeable future, but he succeeds in improving his team by reaching the mere low bar of being an actual centre-forward. That he is a pretty good one with scope to be brilliant feels almost incidental.
Those Leicester subs
Steve Cooper could hardly have made matters worse and there are myriad questions posed by the initial set-up which granted Southampton a two-goal lead, but there can be few things more satisfying for a manager than a series of substitutions paying off to turn a game around.
Abdul Fatawu was a phenomenal outlet on the right. Jordan Ayew scored the winning goal. Even Bobby De Cordova-Reid made a late difference by wisely introducing an element of confusion with a series of mis-kicks.
Then there was Harry Winks, brought on at half-time to shift momentum inexorably in Leicester’s favour. His corner cutback crowned a quietly brilliant performance for a team slowly establishing a healthy gap to the increasing number of teams below them.
Michael Keane
Fair play because his continued selection has been one of the more regular sticks with which a manager, team and player have been beaten all season. Keane felt like a vestige of the past Everton had to leave behind to progress, an old head Sean Dyche was leaning on painfully often instead of trusting those not tainted by the last few years.
The problem only ever pertained to Keane’s defensive acumen and not his claim to legitimately being one of Everton’s best finishers. But his first pair of consecutive Premier League clean sheets since May 2021 combined wonderfully with a ludicrous strike to help Dyche’s side match Liverpool’s best unbeaten run this season.
Manchester City
It must help to have a left-back who scores from outside the area with his ostensibly weaker foot alarmingly often. Josko Gvardiol has helped Manchester City unlock those deep-lying defences more than any other player.
It might be time to reassess our perceptions of Manchester City. They have not been the team of the trademark cutback from the byline for a unmarked forward to finish into an empty net from close range for a couple of years, and never really a pass-it-into-the-net Wenger tribute act. But they were always a functional if often impossible to stop attacking machine at their peak.
Yet they have scored more than twice as many goals from outside the box as any other team this season and only four teams are taking their shots from a higher average distance.
As Pep Guardiola said after the game: “Teams play four in the back, when they play against us they play five at the back, they have holding midfielders, not just close but holding hands with the central defenders. So what do you need? Josko.”
READ NEXT: John bloody Stones does it again for Manchester City to break Wolves (and Arsenal) hearts
Aston Villa
No more proof was needed that replacing Steven Gerrard with Unai Emery might have been a good idea, but The Fixture Computer provided a handy narrative beat when asking Aston Villa to travel to Fulham in late October.
Almost two years to the day since a 3-0 home win at Craven Cottage featuring an own goal, a penalty and a Villa red card, Fulham were beaten 3-1 in a game featuring an own goal, a penalty and a Villa red card.
Joachim Andersen’s sending-off was admittedly perhaps more relevant to the scoreline than Jaden Philogene’s but the transformation was laid bare.
And Emery has undeniably spent money – a courtesy not extended to Gerrard, remember – but also five Villa players started both games and that number does not include Lucas Digne, perhaps the clearest example of the difference actual elite coaching can make.
Wolves
An improvement was unavoidably necessary and indeed delivered. For as amateurish as Wolves were against Brentford, they were immeasurably better on all front at home to Manchester City.
Gary O’Neil made two personnel changes, altered the system and delivered a performance of grit, determination, purpose, incision and ultimately hope. The result was the same but the reaction and outlook could not be more different.
The focus will seemingly forever remain on VAR inconsistencies and refereeing foibles when it comes to Wolves but the manager will know the importance of compartmentalising those feelings of injustice and anger and channelling them into playing this well more often.
Wolves’ three best team displays this season have arguably been against Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City. If they can keep up that level against teams outside the elite they can pull clear of danger. The question is whether they are capable of rising to the occasion when it doesn’t quite match the opponent.
Premier League losers
Russell Martin
Has it been deduced yet which “one person had one job to do that would have stopped that goal and they didn’t”? Southampton’s manager showed such haste in ensuring someone was thrown under the bus that he himself might not even actually know.
Whether Martin can afford to stick so stringently to his principles and philosophy is an argument worth exploring, and Vincent Kompany might contend that it ultimately tends to benefit the manager more than the team.
But one thing not up for debate is that if Martin wishes to continue down this doomed path towards almost certain relegation, he will need the absolute and unequivocal faith, support and belief of players he cannot afford to scapegoat. A coach who takes responsibility for maintaining high pass-percentage completion rates but absolves himself of blame when simple instructions are apparently not carried out sufficiently is no manager.
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Lucas Paqueta
It feels safe to assume there are other things on his mind, but the FA betting charges which continue to loom over Paqueta like the darkest of clouds are tainting even the silver lining of him still being allowed to play.
The Brazilian can be held to account for at least two of the Spurs goals after he needlessly surrendered possession in the build-up, while he and Michail Antonio were collectively hopeless in sensing the threat an entirely unmarked Yves Bissouma might pose from 15 yards.
Paqueta made one shot-creating action, was one of only three West Ham starters who did not have a touch in the Spurs penalty area (Max Kilman and Guido Rodriguez are sufficiently shamed), did not even attempt a take-on and picked up his customary booking.
It is another example of one of football’s great paradoxes: any player performing this consistently poorly would ordinarily be dropped, but because of the very same charges likely contributing to his alarming dip – and the imminent threat he won’t be able to play again – West Ham seem obliged to keep using him to the detriment of both themselves and Paqueta.
Arsenal
“We’ve kicked ourselves in the foot three times in eight games.”
In a nutshell, Declan, yep. The conspiracy talk can and will roll on through the next few days and indeed probably the entire season but that is sustenance to keep an exasperated fanbase going in the dead space between matches. That is their right.
The players and coaches know they cannot indulge in such theories but it is on them to address what they can control. While the phrase will no doubt infuriate supporters, Arsenal cannot keep giving referees a decision to make. That is, in Rice’s words a “naivety” which is costing them.
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Newcastle
Eddie Howe quite handily made all the necessary points:
- “I think that’s the best we’ve looked, the most dominant we’ve been in a game.”
- “I don’t think our substitutions helped our performance.”
- “We didn’t chase the game particularly well.”
- “There were attacking areas that we were looking to strengthen. But we didn’t end up achieving success in those positions.”
A more succinct and accurate assessment you cannot hope to find. Newcastle had seven shots before Brighton scored from their first, then two efforts in the final quarter of an hour when seeking a result which their final three replacements – Miguel Almiron, Sean Longstaff and Will Osula – unsurprisingly failed to help deliver.
It is not difficult to read between the lines and infer that the “attacking areas” Newcastle were desperately “looking to strengthen in the summer” might correlate with Jacob Murphy starting six games on the right after winning a tallest dwarf competition with Almiron and a painfully out-of-form Anthony Gordon who Howe feels he cannot afford to drop.
Harvey Barnes scored Newcastle’s last open-play goal and remains their only player with more than a single non-penalty goal in the Premier League this season. It might be an idea to use him more often than just over half the time.
Ipswich
No team has had fewer shots, only Crystal Palace – who have a game in hand – have scored fewer goals and Ipswich’s xG is the worst in the entire division.
Those issues in attack were easier to handle with Jacob Greaves partnering Dara O’Shea in central defence and Axel Tuanzebe on the right. Between key injuries and a responsibility which is bound to weigh heavy on Liam Delap’s shoulders some weeks, Ipswich have found themselves in a rut.
Fulham
It is unlikely to appease Marco Silva in the moment but Fulham’s last six Premier League defeats have been to clubs who were at least Champions League-adjacent: Aston Villa, Manchester City (two), Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle. The Cottagers are among the best of the rest.
Chelsea
Perhaps they can eventually unearth a young diamond in the transfer market, hand them a ludicrously long contract and build around them, but it feels as though Chelsea might need to alter their approach somewhat to make that next step.
The method in their apparent madness is evident in their attacking output. That code has been cracked. Yet it does not feel like a template which can be used as well in defence. Where young forwards have ample opportunity to express themselves and make mistakes, that is not a luxury the backline can afford; the focus there should be on the sort of organisation and leadership which can only really come with experience.
Two teams have scored more Premier League goals than Chelsea this season but Fulham are the only top-half side to concede more. That is the next challenge for Enzo Maresca, but more pertinently the recruitment team.
Didn’t open that 16 Conclusions tab, did you? Last chance.
Brentford
The points-dropped-from-winning-positions-ometer ticks over onto 41 since the start of last season. It’s not the magic mark they would want to hit but Brentford are on course to retain their spaffing crown.
Erling Haaland
The first time in his career he has been outscored in a game by a fellow Norwegian. Probably.
