Daniel Storey's weekend review: Damning loss pushes Solskjaer closer to the brink
Manchester United’s dejected manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, oversees another home defeat in the Premier League. Picture: Paul Ellis
This is not to dismiss Manchester United’s excellent start to their Champions League campaign. Those results — and performances — should have given Solskjaer a shot in the arm to attack their home fixture against an Arsenal side who had started the season poorly and have a horrendous record away at big six clubs.
But this was another damning afternoon for Solskjaer. One team played as if they had a tactical strategy to thwart their opponents and create moments of danger. The other looked as if it had been told to play on instinct and hope things came off.
Arsenal fully merited their victory. United’s midfield diamond was far too easy to overcome, Arsenal overwhelming players who took too many touches and had their passing lanes blocked off. Solskjaer abandoned the plan at half-time, but was far too slow to make personnel changes other than bringing off Fred for straight-swap Nemanja Matic.
This is why we worry about Solskjaer. Manchester United is surely the best fit for him, but it takes a huge leap of faith to suggest he is the best manager for a club with such wealth and expectation. If this Premier League form continues, he has to go.
It’s tempting to label this the ‘Edouard Mendy effect’. Chelsea’s new goalkeeper has kept clean sheets in each of his first three Premier League matches. No Chelsea goalkeeper has managed that since Petr Cech in Jose Mourinho’s first season at Stamford Bridge.
Mendy’s arrival has clearly breathed confidence into Chelsea’s defenders, although he was fortunate not to concede an early penalty for his challenge on Ashley Barnes. Kepa Arrizabalaga did the opposite. His panicking on the ball and low save percentage made those in front of him panic too.
But Mendy has been fortunate to play behind a settled Chelsea defence, one that includes the ageless Thiago Silva. If his clean sheets provide welcome statistical relief for Frank Lampard, it’s worth noting that Mendy has not even had to make a save in two of his last three league appearances against Crystal Palace and Burnley. Lampard will be judged against more elite opponents than these, but after conceding six times to Southampton and West Brom, this new-found steel is hungrily welcomed.
Burnley always used to pride themselves on their ability to bruise the noses of the Premier League’s elite. Despite being relegated in 2014/15, they took four points off Manchester City and drew three other games against big six opponents. In 2017/18, when they finished seventh, Burnley won at Stamford Bridge and took points off Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham.
But that knack has quickly evaporated. Burnley were outclassed by Chelsea. There’s no shame in that, but Sean Dyche’s team have now taken two points from their last 30 available against big six opposition. That has combined with an ineffectiveness against weaker opposition too. Burnley have now taken one point from their last seven league games.
Has the bubble burst? Have Burnley finally been punished for their failure to back Dyche in the transfer market this summer when their only business was to replace one third-choice goalkeeper with another and sign Dale Stephens as a replacement for Jeff Hendrick?
And will a reported takeover come too late to arrest Burnley’s slump and retain their Premier League status?
First, the positive spin. Manchester City have now won consecutive away games without conceding for the first time since September 2019 (Shakhtar Donetsk and Preston North End). They allowed their opponents only five shots in total over those two matches, early evidence that a central defensive partnership of Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte offers the solidity that Pep Guardiola has been craving.
City are also back in business ahead of a huge home game against Liverpool despite a sticky start to the season. Beat Jurgen Klopp’s side next weekend and City will be two points from top having played a game fewer than those teams above them.
But City are far from perfect. In the absence of Sergio Aguero and with Kevin de Bruyne still easing himself back after injury, Guardiola’s team have been worryingly profligate in the final third. They have scored four goals from 66 shots in their last four league games and on Saturday repeatedly wasted counter attacks with poor passes and bad decisions.
Unusually, De Bruyne was the biggest culprit. That must change against Liverpool if City are going to win.
Jurgen Klopp may well reason that while he is short of a defensive leader and two high-profile midfield options, any win is worth celebrating. Liverpool were again forced to come from behind, but demonstrated the patience and perseverance Klopp will believe can platform a title defence. The form of new signing Diogo Jota and Xherdan Shaqiri’s rare impact will persuade Klopp he has competition for places in the front three.
There is a new pattern to Liverpool that might irk Klopp. His team have conceded the first goal in four of their last five league games, having done so in four of 29 previously. Up against Aston Villa, Sheffield United, and West Ham they conceded the first goal in the opening 15 minutes.
While Liverpool’s response to adversity is to be commended, Klopp would surely prefer if his team did not have to battle so hard to get back into matches but instead stamped their authority on them early, as happened so often last season and in 2018/19. Opposition managers will have noted a potential weakness.
