Premier League Notebook Heading into Week 9
Chelsea go to Manchester United on Sunday, in a repeat of the game that cost them the Premier League title last season.
Of course, that is not exactly true. Everyone knows that it was the defeats against the likes of Sunderland and Aston Villa in the final run-in that ultimately cost the Blues their shot at the title. Chelsea’s visit to Old Trafford was just the third game of their season. How could it possibly have cost them glory, with so many games still to be played?
Well, at the time, the 0-0 draw was seen as a point gained for Jose Mourinho’s side. But as the season went on and David Moyes’ reign went from bad to worse, suddenly that away draw did not reflect so well on the Blues, who famously did not start a striker in the game (Andre Schurrle playing as a false nine) and clearly went to Old Trafford with the intention of stifling United.
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With hindsight, they showed a poor side far too much respect and perhaps threw away two points they could have easily claimed had they shown just a fraction more ambition.
Those two points would have been significant nine months later, when Manchester City and Liverpool joined the Blues in a three-way battle for the league crown. Had Chelsea beaten United at Old Trafford and then beaten Sunderland at Stamford Bridge at the end of last season, then they would have lifted the Premier League title instead of Manchester City. Fine margins.
Now, you can run through such “what if?” scenarios endlessly, without adding much to the general conversation ("what if…Crystal Palace had not lost a single game all season?!"). At some point, it becomes speculation and wish-fulfillment. Nevertheless, that Old Trafford game does speak to Mourinho’s general nature in big games—to be conservative, to defend before you attack. It will be interesting to see what the Portuguese does this time around.
Will he show Louis van Gaal’s current side similar respect, and put his team out to counter-attack from deep? Or will he have studied United’s many defensive frailties so far this season and decide that the best strategy is to get on the front foot and attack them from the opening whistle?
Mourinho’s lack of striking options—Diego Costa is expected to be unavailable, while Loic Remy is injured—may influence his decision to an extent. But still, Chelsea’s approach should give us a valuable insight into what one of the brightest footballing minds of his generation makes of a United team many casual observers are still getting their head around.
After the 6-0 midweek win over Maribor, Mourinho told reporters (per the Daily Mail):
"Remy has a muscular injury. I don't know the dimension and I'm not worried. When a player is injured, play another one.
[...]
I cannot speak about Man United. I can speak about ourselves. We are playing well, we are getting good results. We don't cry on injuries. It's our philosophy, we don't cry.
We just think one injury means an opportunity for somebody else. We cannot hide. In this moment we have some problems with players that are not available to play.
We will prepare the game Thursday, Friday, Saturday to try to be at our best possible level against an opponent which we respect very, very much.
"
From United’s perspective, this is the first big test for Van Gaal. It will be a key chance for the Dutchman to show his ability to change a game from the sidelines, which he displayed throughout the summer World Cup during the Netherlands' third-place run.
He seems prepared to acknowledge—to a greater extent than many managers would anyway—that his squad remains a work in progress. But with Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata at his disposal, he still has attacking players that Mourinho will certainly respect (well, Mata excepted, perhaps).
Defensively, of course, United remain very suspect. That Achilles' heel will be hard to shield from danger with Eden Hazard, Oscar and Cesc Fabregas in such glorious form at the moment.
Saido Berahino might well be on course for an England call-up in the next few months, but Van Gaal will surely have been furious with his players for the defensive lapse that saw the striker score in United’s most recent game, a 2-2 draw at West Bromwich Albion.
That will be the dichotomy for Van Gaal: Will he sacrifice some attacking threat to try and shore up his suspect defence, or will he decide that attacking with even greater intent is the best way of covering that deficiency (the Kevin Keegan approach)?
Fortunately for United fans, Van Gaal does not seem one to ever alter his gameplan in a “negative” fashion.
“I am always thinking it starts in the attack and how the attackers are defending,” as Van Gaal told the Manchester Evening News this week.
For a few seasons, especially during Mourinho’s first spell in west London, Chelsea against Manchester United was perhaps the biggest match of the season. That is no longer the case. Manchester City have usurped their arch-rivals in that equation.
United’s long-term aim is to get back into that bracket and return to their position at the very top of English football’s power struggle. Mourinho’s approach to this game might show us what he makes of Chelsea's title chances this season, but the game itself will give us a greater insight into Van Gaal and United’s longer term prospects.
Week 9 Fixtures
All games 3 p.m. BST (10 a.m. ET) unless otherwise stated.
Saturday
West Ham United vs. Manchester City (12:45 p.m.)
Liverpool vs. Hull City
Southampton vs. Stoke City
Sunderland vs. Arsenal
West Brom vs. Crystal Palace
Swansea vs. Leicester (5:30 p.m.)
Sunday
Burnley vs. Everton (2:30 p.m.)
Tottenham vs. Newcastle (2:30 p.m.)
Manchester United vs. Chelsea (5 p.m.)
Monday
QPR vs. Aston Villa (9 p.m.)
1. What to watch out for this week
Circus must stop for Liverpool
Apparently everything is in turmoil at Liverpool, despite the club currently sitting fourth in the Premier League form table and the fact that—even though they fell 3-0 home to Real Madrid—their Champions League prospects actually improved on Wednesday thanks to Basel’s defeat to Ludogorets.
Call it the Mario Balotelli effect: the Italian’s antics, both real and perceived, seemingly distract from every possible positive at the club.
Of course, things are not perfect at Anfield. Brendan Rodgers knows he has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to turn this squad—and Balotelli—into one that can perform as well as "Luis Suarez and the Supporting Cast" did last season.
Facing Hull City, who like West Ham appear to have strengthened well this summer, is a tough but passable test. It will be interesting to see if Balotelli gets another start or if Rickie Lambert is finally given the opportunity to be a less divisive presence at the head of the Reds attack.
The talk around Anfield is that Balotelli now has two months to save his Liverpool career—but what about Lazar Markovic, Adam Lallana or Lambert? When will they have to prove themselves?
Best foot forward for Lamela
After his rabona goal against Asteras Tripolis on Thursday (seriously, check it out if you haven't already), it would be great if Erik Lamela could finally go from Europa League bully to Premier League threat.
That transition has proven to be particularly difficult for the Argentinian (harder than performing a rabona, anyway) but the arrival of Newcastle United at White Hart Lane should give Lamela plenty of opportunities to showcase his attacking prowess.
Great goals in Europe are all well and good, but Lamela still has to win over his doubters in the Premier League.
"Mauricio Pochettino has described Erik Lamela's rabona-style wonder-strike as unbelievable https://t.co/b8AUmbCh2B
— InsideWorldFootball (@insidewldftball) October 24, 2014"
Can the Gunners give Sunderland a repeat performance?
After losing 8-0 to Southampton in somewhat farcical circumstances, Gus Poyet and his side probably wouldn't have Arsenal as their first choice to play next.
Over the years, Arsenal have always proven themselves capable of putting a team to the sword. However, at the moment they do not appear to have the fluency (or the fit players) to repeat Southampton’s drubbing of the Black Cats.
Against Anderlecht they were extremely fortunate to sneak away with a 2-1 win. It was a game the unfancied Belgian side should have clinched much earlier.
After the loss to Saints, Poyet suggested he would make some big changes to his starting lineup, and it will be interesting to see what those are.
The irony for Arsenal fans is that the Gunners appear to be incapable of making similar wholesale changes at the moment, considering the injuries that continue to afflict them. At this point they, like Wenger, would be happy just to come away with three points—never mind scoring eight goals like Saints did.
A stay of execution
Queens Park Rangers do not play until Monday, which the unkind might suggest means Harry Redknapp will get an extra two days in employment before his sacking.
Club owner Tony Fernandes might be slightly distracted at the moment—just what is going on with Formula One team Caterham? But it seems certain Redknapp is on the verge of dismissal, especially if they are unable to beat an Aston Villa side that has (unsurprisingly) faded after a bright start. Even so, we don’t expect Adel Taarabt to get a recall for this one…
2. Video of the week
3. Player to watch
Saido Berahino
Roy Hodgson’s next England squad is barely a month away, with plenty of speculation of who might be the latest player to get a call-up for the Three Lions.
West Brom forward Saido Berahino—at least for the time being—appears to be front of the queue. He scored against Manchester United on Monday and subsequently was backed for international inclusion by England coach Gary Neville.
“If you're English and you score goals you've got a good chance,” Neville said, in his primary role as a pundit for Sky Sports (via the Daily Mail). “We haven't got many forwards that can play in the Premier League. There aren't a great deal of options.
"He's already in the system because he's playing for the U21s, so it's inevitable if he continues to score goals and play like he is he will come into the thoughts.”
After that endorsement, Berahino knows he must keep up his goalscoring form in order to press his case. With Rickie Lambert currently a peripheral figure at Liverpool, there certainly is an opportunity for him to make the final step to the senior national team.
Crystal Palace were a good defensive side last season, but Tony Pulis’s exit has unsurprisingly seen that change slightly this season. Berahino will be confident he can find the net again, and he'll have extra motivation to do so.
4. Game of the weekend
West Ham vs. Manchester City
After making their Champions League situation much harder for themselves by throwing away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with CSKA Moscow in midweek, City return to Premier League action with a visit to one of the form sides in the competition, West Ham.
Sam Allardyce’s side have won their last three games in a row—including two home wins against Liverpool and QPR. Upton Park is not a place many teams will want to visit at the moment, especially considering the sparkling attacking form both Diafra Sakho (six goals already) and Enner Valencia appear to be in.
City, in contrast, have travelled 3,200 miles in the last week, so whatever buoyancy they might have obtained after beating Tottenham 4-1 last Saturday may well have eroded. They would surely have preferred to travel to QPR or Burnley, rather than one of the sharpest attacking sides in the division.
On the other hand, City have been a great attacking side now for years—not just weeks—and have Sergio Aguero in scintillating form (he got all four goals against Spurs) and the likes of David Silva and Yaya Toure prepared to support him. West Ham will make them work for it, but City should really be able to come away with a win as they look to close in on Chelsea’s early lead.
This feels like a game that could set the tone for the next month or so in the title race; If City can win, it will put pressure on Chelsea ahead of their Old Trafford appearance. If they lose, however, it may only serve to free up the league leaders to play with more freedom later in the weekend.
Manuel Pellegrini will impress upon his side the importance of avoiding any slip-ups.
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