Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
TIME OUT: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag looks toward Marcus Rashford at full time at Wolves. Picture: Copa/Getty Images
If Erling Haaland is the Premier League’s goal machine then its creative genius may well be, with apologies to Kevin De Bruyne, Martin Ødegaard.
Come the season’s end, two Norwegians could be competing for individual honours. Placing the captaincy with an artistic playmaker is not usual practice in English football but Mikel Arteta has instead followed the orthodoxy of giving the armband to the team’s best, most important player.
At Brighton it was Ødegaard who made the difference against an opponent refusing to be flushed out. His goal may have been a miskick but his pass for Gabriel Martinelli to score Arsenal’s fourth was a beauty. The one-time boy wonder who lost his way at Real Madrid will not be going the same way as previous youthful burnouts like Nii Lamptey, Javier Saviola or Francis Jeffers.
At 24, Ødegaard is Arsenal’s jewel.
Something refreshing happened on Saturday at Molineux. Marcus Rashford’s omission from the starting lineup for what Erik ten Hag described as “internal disciplinary” reasons was the subject of much intrigue but afterwards Rashford, with Ten Hag’s blessing, was permitted to clarify events.
Rashford told broadcasters in post-match interviews that he fell foul of Ten Hag’s rules by arriving late for a team meeting after oversleeping. Rather than keeping Rashford off-limits and allowing rumours to grow legs, United and Rashford nipped the episode, which he was even able to raise a smile about, firmly in the bud.
Of course, it helped that Rashford scored to earn an eighth victory in nine games, as well as the man-of-the-match award. Some things should stay confidential or in-house but credit to Ten Hag and United for allowing everyone to be grownup.
Having excluded Phil Foden for Saturday’s draw with Everton to make it only one start in six Premier League games for the forward, Pep Guardiola explained why. “Phil can play in one thousand positions,” he said. “[But] I see something on the pitch, in the training sessions, and I use my intuition to use Jack [Grealish] in these games because he gives us extra passes. Phil is better when we play more vertical. Both can play together and combine. Always, top players are not playing. Lately, as I get older, I mainly look at the body language – in the training sessions and everything. You cannot play good when the body language is not correct. Sometimes you choose the players for how happy they are, if they are there. That is one of the main decisions with choosing the lineup, because with the skills, I know how good they are. The body language depends on them and sometimes they are not good and it is more difficult.”
Could Antonio Conte be out of a job before spring? The suggestion would have seemed outlandish a couple of months ago, when a 2-0 win over Everton made it 23 points from Tottenham’s opening 10 league games, the club’s best start to a season since the 60s. But that was then. The seven games since have thrown up four defeats, the performances every bit as bad as the results.
Form may be temporary but class was nowhere to be seen during Sunday’s insipid loss to Aston Villa and a lusty chorus boos at the final whistle never bodes well for a manager’s job prospects. After Wednesday’s clash with Crystal Palace, Spurs’ next four league games include the visit of Arsenal and two meetings with Manchester City. Spurs could end that run of games without a manager or with their title credentials restored. But either way, this week’s trip to Selhurst Park now looks very important indeed.
Steve Cooper has spent 17 games trying to stitch together his best XI and might finally have found it. The back four and central midfield trio have made the team more settled in recent matches and considerably harder to break down. The remaining area to sort out was the front three, unsurprising for a team that has scored 12 goals all season.
In the first half they did not particularly trouble Chelsea but after the break Taiwo Awoniyi played more centrally, causing problems for the centre-backs. Morgan Gibbs-White was getting on the ball more often to open up their opponents and Brennan Johnson threatened in behind with his pace. Awoniyi and Johnson looked dangerous in the Carabao Cup win over Blackburn and Gibbs-White has kept improving since his summer arrival.
Cooper would be well-advised to stick with this team even when Jesse Lingard returns.
Two defeats in two games has a worrying echo for Brendan Rodgers, who saw his Leicester team open the season with one point from seven matches after a summer of transfer inactivity.
The restart, however, has not brought fears of a repeat for the Leicester manager even with Patson Daka joining a significant injury list also featuring James Maddison and Jonny Evans. The visitors were vastly improved from their St Stephen's Day defeat by Newcastle and denied a tangible reward at Anfield only by two calamitous interventions from Wout Faes.
The Belgium defender is the one player Leicester have paid to bring in this season but Rodgers predicted there will be more to come in January. “I think there will be a little bit of money to spend in the areas we want to improve, so we feel we can do that,” he said. “It is not all about money but if you stand still others will overtake you.”
West Ham’s blip has become a slump. Their league form was wretched during the second half of last season and they have already given David Moyes a chance at a reset after handing him £160m to spend last summer. Little has changed.
Gianluca Scamacca, Thilo Kehrer and Lucas Paquetá have underwhelmed and West Ham, who are caught between trying to become a possession team and move away from a counterattacking style, are deep in relegation trouble. Defeat to Brentford was hugely concerning. Moyes tried to alter his tactics, moving Paquetá into a deeper midfield role, but it did not work and the board’s reluctance to make a managerial change is a risk.
Yes, Moyes has credit in the bank, but that is close to emptying out after five consecutive defeats. West Ham need to start looking at possible replacements.
A point gained for Leeds, two dropped by Newcastle. Played amid torrential rain, Saturday’s goalless draw was a reminder that Eddie Howe’s impressive side remain mortal, while Jesse Marsch’s team are showing signs of much-needed defensive improvement.
More significant litmus tests lie in wait this week, with Newcastle’s Champions League credentials set to be scrutinised during Tuesday’s trip to Arsenal and Leeds hosting a classic relegation six-pointer against struggling West Ham. David Moyes’s players can only hope Illan Meslier, Marsch’s outstanding goalkeeper, is not in the sort of inspired form he displayed on Tyneside.
Whatever happens against the Premier League leaders, Howe should be applauded for his transformative coaching. Newcastle head into 2023 having suffered only one defeat – narrowly and contentiously at Liverpool – all season.
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