Arsenal are Premier League winners after City cryarsing but West Ham, Howe, O’Neil blasted

September 23, 2024
7:17 pm

Arsenal join Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, Fulham and Caiomhin Kelleher as Premier League winners putting West Ham, Eddie Howe and Everton to shame.

Premier League winners

Enzo Maresca
Few managers had to get most things right so soon into the season to avoid a tailspin into a crisis, so fair play to Maresca for not only building on Mauricio Pochettino’s foundations from last season but, on an admittedly small case sample and omitting the opening defeat to Manchester City, improving things.

Chelsea look far more sound defensively while retaining the sort of attacking menace all the money in the world should be able to buy. The level of investment on forwards makes it difficult not to even just stumble on some vaguely coherent and effective plan up front but Maresca has taken the Blues far beyond that and they are scoring a wide range of goals. Three on the counter is already as many as they managed in the whole of the last Premier League season.

It will be interesting to see when Chelsea come up against better teams again – all their points have been amassed against sides in the bottom eight, two of whom are among the half-dozen without a win – but it is difficult to remember the last time things seemed this positive around Stamford Bridge.

Fulham
It might simply be a happy coincidence, genius squad-building or perhaps a combination of the two. But Fulham using prior player connections has been the foundation for a quietly excellent start.

Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore played 124 games together at Wolves, directly combining for 12 goals. Emile Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi were far less frequent teammates at Arsenal but would have established connections in training and the latter assisted the former’s first-ever senior goal in 2018.

That level of in-built partnership is invaluable and Fulham are the ultimate beneficiaries. Both collaborations were pivotal in another impressive win.

Arsenal
After Arsenal’s most recent victory away at Manchester City – the one win in their last 15 often chastening trips to the Etihad – manager Arsene Wenger praised a rare showcase of their defensive qualities and stated that the “target” was to “put right” a record of under-performing in big away games.

That sentiment was widespread. Detractors were impressed by a newfound solidity; players revelled in being able to show their robustness; even the often unyielding Wenger enjoyed the opportunity to reveal a different side to his management and team. It was, most agreed, precisely the sort of thing Arsenal needed to do to compete.

Arsenal had even less possession and fewer shots at the Etihad on Sunday but those two halves underlined their title credentials on an afternoon they could have been summarily dismantled. They were durable while posing a constant threat before the break, then adjusted remarkably well to a change in circumstances after. Being at a man disadvantage for an entire half away at Manchester City and coming within seconds of victory required a mental strength and physical exertion many still fail to credit Arsenal with having.

Mikel Arteta should take heart from the performance, the result and the reaction; they proved themselves to be Manchester City’s equals on the pitch and Bernardo Silva’s cryarsing only emphasised how much of a threat they see them as. If the champions do not feel compelled to offer a post-match pat on the head to compliant opponents, you are doing something right.

John Stones
Long may he decide Premier League title races. The goalline clearance against Liverpool in 2019 was mad enough, but Stones’ last three Premier League goals have come against the Reds and Arsenal in six-pointers across the last three seasons.

Between his header to make it 2-0 over Arsenal in a 4-1 win in April 2023, his opener in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool in April and his last-gasp equaliser against the Gunners at the Etihad, few players have had quite as explicit an impact at the top recently.

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Caiomhin Kelleher
A performance to justify the summer stance of both player and club. Kelleher showed precisely why he deserves the opportunity “to go and be a number one and play week in, week out”. Liverpool might actually have felt their £25m valuation was a little low with each passing save against Bournemouth.

The signing of Giorgi Mamardashvili has changed the equation and the dynamic to a point which needs to be addressed either internally or in public. It is fair for Kelleher to feel aggrieved at seemingly being bypassed in the Alisson succession plan but if the idea is just to ensure elite goalkeeping competition rather than simply outsourcing a defined successor outright, the Irishman himself is excellent proof it can work handsomely.

All Kelleher can do is take advantage of his chances when they come, and Alisson’s injury issues are making that increasingly often. Another Premier League clean sheet before almost definitely inspiring Liverpool to Carabao Cup glory in March is a fine start and only really begs questions of clubs who continue to show reticence when investing in such quality goalkeepers, despite spending vast sums on every other facet of their squads.

Ross Barkley
There was no incredible assist to match the generational three-yard lay-off which preceded Jhon Duran’s 30-yard tap-in against Everton, but Barkley again proved himself a contender for best bargain signing for the second straight season.

Luton used their free agent as often as possible; Aston Villa are yet to give their £5m summer purchase a start outside the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. But Barkley’s influence from the bench has been clear and crucial.

After misplacing one pass at Everton, Barkley maintained a 100% accuracy against Wolves. Villa were losing both games when he came on to help establish control, command the tempo and free up his teammates. As a reliable, game-changing squad option, he was a phenomenal addition.

James Maddison
The continued Brennan Johnson redemption story was heartening but Maddison was no less in need of a display to, in his own words, “kind of shut up a few people in the background”.

Maddison is precisely the sort of player and personality who seems to attract the “outside noise” he scoffed at after the Brentford win and those critics are unlikely to ever really be appeased; they will have their caveats and complaints ready regardless.

But that was Maddison approaching his influential best, operating higher up the pitch and creating chances or at least openings with almost every action.

Adam Lallana
He might not have played more than 70 minutes of a first-team game since August 2022, nor started and finished a match since December 2021, but the brilliance of Lallana remains eminent and evident. It was wonderful control and footwork from Tyler Dibling before a fine finish, only made possible by a sublime pass.

Setting up an academy product half his age for his first Premier League goal was a little on the nose but symbolised Lallana’s shift from apprentice to master perfectly. There are few better players Dibling could wish to learn from and develop with.

Ipswich
It has been lost in the midst of ‘promoted teams are yet to win again’ discourse but that is an unnecessarily harsh reflection of Ipswich’s first five games. A three-game unbeaten run is already longer than Sheffield United managed in the entirety of last season, equalling Luton’s best sequence and putting them just one behind Burnley’s.

There should be no shame or disappointment in being beaten by Liverpool and Manchester City, nor at drawing with Fulham (9th) and Brighton (7th). These are established Premier League teams Ipswich are proving themselves capable of at least competing with.

And any frustrations at only taking a point from their most winnable away game of the campaign can be offset by relief at rediscovering their ability to both earn results from losing positions and score important late goals. That will help them put up as good a fight as anyone in this relegation battle.

Danny Welbeck
Cristiano Ronaldo took 103 free-kicks for his clubs between the start of the 2017/18 season and leaving for Saudi Arabia in December 2022, scoring two.

Danny Welbeck has taken four free-kicks for his clubs over the past six-and-a-bit seasons, scoring one. He has a 99-game safety cushion is what we’re saying.

Nottingham Forest
Their longest unbeaten Premier League run since February 2023. That came to an end against Fulham and if you don’t already know who Forest face next then you’ve underestimated the sheer power of the fixture computer.

But yeah, Forest being fairly durable and consistent is a nice development. The Mark Clattenburg rebound afterglow is delightful.

Dean Henderson and Andre Onana
A top-drawer personal battle their central-midfield namesakes would have been proud of.

Premier League losers

West Ham
“Maybe there would be managers who excite them more, possibly, but the one who is sitting here wins more.”

David Moyes was speaking as speculation continued over his position as West Ham manager in February, and how smug he would have every right to feel seven months later. This is squarely in Be Careful What You Wish For territory, a club being shown that it was never the manager holding them back in the first place.

Except parting with Moyes was absolutely the right decision. That course had been run and the signs were present for a while. West Ham lost 5-0 to Chelsea towards the end of last season; Julen Lopetegui might not be advised to suggest a 3-0 defeat represents a step forward but the point is that the Hammers needed a fresh start.

That the question is already being asked as to whether Lopetegui provides enough of that is alarming. At least with Moyes it was usually no secret what the plan was and how he wanted his players to set up; after five games it is not at all clear what Lopetegui is aiming for.

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Eddie Howe
“It’s not something I want to be doing but I felt we needed to do it for the game and our performance,” said Howe of the half-time double substitution which followed a triple change at the break against Wolves. While that inspired a comeback, the manager will have known it was unsustainable in even the short-term.

Howe questioned himself and accepted “responsibility” for handing Joe Willock a first start of the season but a great many of those selection decisions could be scrutinised and are symptomatic of a manager not knowing his best team either in general or for the opposition at hand.

When the only new players Howe has had to integrate in his team are two back-up goalkeepers, a player he has worked with before and a 21-year-old signed from Sheffield United, that is a significant concern. Throw in defensive numbers far more akin to his Bournemouth side than peak dark arts Newcastle and those off-field issues are seeping onto the pitch with a result which had long been in the post.

Second-half Wolves
Gary O’Neil blamed the latest Wolves capitulation on the loss of “man for man battles” in the second half but that explanation feels a little too simplistic. The Villa Park visitors completed a higher percentage of their tackles after the break (72%) compared to the first (64%) and in any event, failing to win duels felt like less of an issue than failing to have a shot beyond the 45th minute.

Arsenal showed how precarious that approach can be, how high the risk-reward ratio is, but even they mustered an effort towards the end of their elite second-half sufferball session.

And for Wolves this seems like more of an endemic problem. They are the only team yet to score in the second half of a Premier League game this season, conceding the joint-most goals (10, with Everton) in the process. They have lost games 6-2, 2-1 and 3-1 despite leading or drawing at half-time.

While some of that can certainly be explained in part by coming out second-best in “man for man battles”, it felt like the biggest individual skirmish was between the managers. Not for the first time, O’Neil’s submissive tactics cost his team.

Everton
Five games in, 19th-placed Everton have spent more time leading in the Premier League this season than Aston Villa (3rd), Brighton (7th) and Nottingham Forest (8th). They have been in front for 145 minutes, almost as long as Newcastle (86) and Manchester United (64) combined, all for a single solitary point.

Sean Dyche calling a point away at Leicester having been 1-0 a “mini step” was all too revealing. The manager echoed a criticism from last season, that more of the focus should be on not maximising chances up front rather than any vulnerability in defence. But it doesn’t really wash when Everton have scored five goals in their last three games for a draw, while their chance creation has tailed off considerably since the days Dyche was desperately citing xG numbers months ago.

Everton are conceding at a rate of a goal every five shots against, and a goal every two shots on target allowed. It happens when Jordan Pickford is dragged into the hole he often pulls his teammates from. Those could not be much further from Dyche’s peak Burnley numbers, even with the maddening persistence of the inadequate Tarkowski-Keane defensive partnership.

Brentford
Losing consecutive games after scoring within 22 seconds is quite the party trick. Since the start of last season, Brentford have earned 45 points but dropped another 36 from winning positions. It is difficult to decide whether that or a predilection to injuries is the most harmful and infuriating habit to maintain.

Jamie Vardy
Leicester have likely accepted the situation in exchange for a few breakaway goals and general housery, but the trade-off is performances like these. Vardy’s conversion rate is a frankly untenable 66% and he has not had a single shot in the three games he has not scored in. His 14 touches against Everton were entirely nondescript and it should not be long before someone else is trusted to start up front and offer something different.

Bournemouth
Having 19 shots at Anfield does slightly counterbalance the regret at an expected defeat, but Bournemouth’s last points of any kind against Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City were delivered by Gary O’Neil in March 2023; it is certainly an area ripe for improvement, and Andoni Iraola highlighting it even before the game at least suggests he is working on it.