As we approach the halfway point of the EPL, the Premier League table is fast taking shape. Here EconSport brings you the best talking points, from across the grounds, on Match day 17.
Plenty of brawn,but little intensity or gain. Pathetic
Lukaku sums up Manchester United’s current malaise under Mourinho…this is only ending one way. (Liverpool 3 vs 1 Manchester United)
Jose Mourinho’s storied third season implosion at previous
clubs the Portuguese has managed is well known, but if these are his last days
in Manchester (it has since turned out to be so), it is turning out to be quite the free-fall. United’s season is descending into a farce. So
low has expectations fallen, the Red Devils’ display at Anfield was akin to
clinging to the faintest of hopes, if any, of sniffing anything out of such a huge game, rather than
any preconceived stratagem or tactical plan on how to best the unbeaten Reds. It
was clueless, it was lifeless, it was embarrassing to watch at times, and the
result was unsurprising. How excruciatingly
painful it must have been for the fans to stomach such a dreary display. This
was their team, one assembled at a cost of over £350 million, being made to
look like a hastily patched up group of amateurs. And the display of £75
million Romelu Lukaku up top was emblematic of United’s struggles. He was tied
up in knots for the duration of the ninety by the defensive duo of Dejan Lovren and
Virgil Van Dijk, who took turns to exercise their dominance over the lumbering
Belgian. He was in their pocket all game
long –though the same could be said for many of the starting XI as well. The
pantheon of great strikers for Manchester United –Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke,
Teddy Sheringham, Ruud Van-Nisterooy, Wayne Rooney—offered a useful outlet in
such tough away games. Holding the ball up top, winning knockdowns and free-kicks
high up the pitch, running tirelessly down the channels, pulling defenders out
of position, holding the fort till support arrived. That’s what is expected
from a center forward playing for a club of United’s stature. Does Lukaku offer
that at present? Not a chance. The ball seems to ricochet off him as soon as it
comes to feet, like some sort of ball repellent was attached to those boots of his.
Romelu Lukaku had a limp display, and was well marshaled by Virgil Van Dijk (second left) in Manchester United's 3-1 loss at Liverpool
Stat: Manchester United have conceded more goals (29), scored fewer (29), and accumulated less points than any of their top six rivals. Lagging behind.
It
would be harsh though to ping the blame of this woeful display on the Belgian.
Time and again in the first half, long balls were launched in the Belgian’s
direction. It was baffling to think Mourinho employed such a tactic, against
imposing defenders such as Virgil Van Dijk and Dejan Lovren. The few times the
Belgian did manage to get a flick on, there were no takers due to the lack of
willing midfield runners beyond him . This meant a continuous turnover of
possession to the hosts who launched wave after wave of energetic and high
intensity attacking sequences on the lethargic visitors. It felt a matter of
when, rather than if, the floodgates will be open. They were thundered open when Sadio Mane timed a
brilliant run, to meet a sumptuous pass into space by Fabinho –who had a
stormer in midfield—and fire clinically past David De Gea. And to think this
was a Liverpool team coming off the back of what was sure to have been a
mentally and physically draining 1-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League
which saw them advance to the last 16, while a much changed United line up
served up a limp showing in Spain to lose 2-1 at Valencia. It was thus curious
to hear Jose Mourinho in his post-match interview lavish praise on the energy
of Klopp’s side. Why can’t United play with such verve and gusto? It merely emphasised the growing gulf between
United and their top six rivals. When Jurgen Klopp needed to turn the game
around, he turned to Xherdan Shaqiri for inspiration –and what an inspired sub
he was with two well taken goals putting the game out of United's reach—Mourinho brought on Marouane Fellaini at half time for his own throw of a game
changing substitution. Stick it up to the big man and hope for the best. This
is not a dig at the Belgian in any way, who has bailed United out a couple of
times this season, but it felt like watching Tony Pulis’ Stoke side at times —even that team had a well defined pattern of play—United merely huff and puff.
Roar of delight: Xherdan Shaqiri (second left) wheels off after coming off the bench to major effect with two goals against Manchester United
Clincher: Shaqiri's second goal, took a major deflection off a sliding Eric Bailly, and effectively sealed the win for Liverpool.
Lurching from sometimes good, to bad and then dreadful displays. You don’t just
know what to expect. Such is their inconsistency. In the second half, as Liverpool had their
hands wrapped tight round United’s throat, the Red Devils cried out for a ball
carrier to move them up the pitch and out of their defensive third, but Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic —who was alarmingly and frustratingly sluggish in possession—and
Fellaini offer no such qualities. All the while a certain Paul Pogba—signed for
a then world record £89 million –was sat on the bench, covered in his hood. Yet
Mourinho moans about the lack of investment, true to some extent but laughable
considering Liverpool have a net spend far less than their opponents. The
problems at the club obviously run deeper than just a managerial change. Manchester
United have been on a backward spin for the best part of the last five seasons,
while their rivals have marched on. However, the slump in player’s confidence,
a lack of trust between manager and the players makes this seems destined for
one end. Mourinho loathes statistical analysis of performances, but it is hard
to look beyond the fact that United conceded a whopping 36 shots at Anfield and
mustered a paltry four themselves, or that they are 19 points behind Liverpool
after just 17 games —a first in the history of the club. Once acclaimed as the “special
one”, right now anything Mourinho touches, seems not to turn into gold. The inevitable
end of that storied three year cycle feels nigh.
Arsenal loses ground in tight top four battle. Unai Emery
must cut out recurring first-45-no-show. (Southampton 3 vs 2 Arsenal)
It was touched on, in my weekly column, earlier in the campaign against
Leicester City, when Arsenal overcame a sluggish opening –by which time they
could have been two goals down—with a brilliant second half display to emerge
3-1 winners. On that occasion —as they so often have done this season, Arsenal
got away with it. Not this time. The sequence of slow starts is threatening to
derail what has been an otherwise fast start out of the blocks in the race for a
lucrative Champions League spot, and a probable title tilt. How about this; Arsenal have never led at
half-time in the seventeen Premier League games they have played this season.
In some ways, and positively so, it speaks volumes of the gutsiness and mental
character Unai Emery has drilled into his charges, yet it also red flags a
tendency to drop off in the early stages of a game. A tendency which was
ruthlessly punished by a brave and warrior like Southampton –Ralph Hahsentutl
will need plenty more of that attitude in the coming weeks—at St Mary's.
On cloud nine: Southampton Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl leaps for joy after watching his side strike late to seal victory against Arsenal.
A catalog of defensive
errors saw the home side score twice through a double from Danny Ings and
substitute Charlie Austin, and though the Gunners replied with two of their
own, they couldn’t preserve their 22 game unbeaten status. Perhaps, the Gunners
subconsciously conserve energy in the early stages; it is some ask to maintain
Emery’s full throttle approach for the entire duration, at least in this embryonic
stage of his rein so far. But whatever the reason, it is costing his team some
crucial points especially as the business end of the season approaches.
Forget Record: Charlie Austin's late winner ended Arsenal's 22 game unbeaten run
On a
weekend that saw Tottenham win against Burnley and Chelsea survive a late scare
to run out winners against Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal would have seen
this as a huge opportunity missed. The chance to make amends comes quickly though as the Gunners welcome Burnley to the Emirates this weekend. However if
the Clarets display at Wembley against Tottenham —as predicted on this column
last week—is anything to go buy, Arsenal would need to overcome that surprising
statistic and find an early zip in their game to overcome the visitors. Sean
Dyche’s side are nothing if not stubborn opponents, and Arsenal would need to
bounce back quickly from the bump in the road at St Marys, amid being light at
the back, with Hector Bellerin and Stephen Lichsteiner picking up knocks over
the weekend.
Unrelenting Tottenham find a way. (Tottenham Hotspur 1 vs 0 Burnley)
They kept on knocking; they kept on pressing and pushing.
Most importantly, they kept on believing. Many say hope always a place, and it was
hope fulfilled for Tottenham Hotspur in the dying moments as Christian Eriksen plundered in a late
winner to earn an hard fought win against Burnley at Wembley.
Tottenham were not always at their
fluent best under gloomy temperatures on Saturday, but isn’t that the hallmark
of great footballing teams. Winning even when not at their best? Thus whetting
the appetite for what is to come when they hit full stride. Mauricio Pochettino
must have been a relieved man come the final whistle as his side navigated a
tricky tie to come out victorious, and retain third place on the Premier League
table —two points above fourth placed Chelsea and five over London rivals
Arsenal. The result was even more significant in the light of Arsenal’s dropped
points against Southampton on Sunday. For goalscorer Eriksen, it was yet
another telling contribution in a campaign that has had it’s ups —such as his
late intervention against PSV in the Champions League —and its lows as well, amid fitness and injury concerns.
One would do Christian: Eriksen's late late winner earned Tottenham Hotspur a slender 1-0 win over Burnley at Wembley
No one exemplifies the remarkable strength and character of this Spurs team more than manager Mauricio Pochettino. "The most important thing in football is belief and faith in the way that you work and how you play", he said post-match. Managing an injury crisis in defence and still extracting the very best from a squad, that sometimes look threadbare, Pochettino is showing why he is being wooed by different top sides. He is the one his players look to for belief.
Stat: According to Opta, Mauricio Pochettino is the first
Tottenham Hotspur manager to reach 100 Premier League wins, doing so in his
169th match with them. Special!
His enthusiasm rubs off on the Spurs players. No
matter if its at the Nou Camp, or against PSV, its always a never-say-die-attitude. They either find a way or forge one. No matter if its against a
stubborn Burnley, they keep going till the very end. And it was a joyful end
indeed, against Burnley, for the Spurs faithful, and for that they have that
unrelenting attitude as a team to thank , and that man too, Christian Eriksen.
Eddie Howe must arrest Bournemouth’s slide. (Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 vs 0 Bournemouth)
After a remarkable run of three wins from four in October,
that saw whispers probably emerge about a possible charge for a European spot this season, Bournemouth have
been brought back down to earth with six defeats in their last seven league outings. Of course, those games should be put into context. Three were against
the high-and-mighty in Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City. It wasn’t
a bad performance in any of those games either. They could have won against
United when they blew away glaring chances after leading 1-0, the Red Devils
storming back to win 2-1. It was narrow against Arsenal and same against City.
But results ultimately earn you points, and right now Howe’s side are finding
them difficult to come by. The 4-nil trouncing by Liverpool was followed up
with an a sub-par performance in a 2-0 away loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers,
who are flying high in 7th place, and must surely, though silently, harbour European
dreams of their own as they are just a point behind an out-of-sorts Manchester
United who lie sixth.
Stat: Wolverhampton Wanderers won three consecutive games for the first time in the history of the Premier League.
The Cherries had the bulk of possession with over 60% against Wolves,
but they never looked like causing any real danger with it, although Junior
Stanislas and Callum Wilson went close for the visitors, but ultimately
Wolverhampton Wanderers were full value for their victory. Such bad run of form makes the weekend’s visit
of Brighton and Hove Albion a massive one, heading into the busy run of fixtures
in the festive season. Before that though, they have the not-so-small matter of
an EFL Cup against Chelsea to contend with. A good display against the blues would not be a
bad place to start recovering some of that lost form and spark, ahead of a
massive game at the Vitality Stadium.
In other fixtures, Crystal Palace earned a crucial and morale
boosting 1-0 win over Leicester City courtesy of Luka Milivojevic’s 39th
minute strike. The result brought some relief on under pressure manager Roy Hodgson and
saw the Eagles move up to 15th on the log with fifteen points. Elsewhere, a Gabriel Jesus double —his first EPL goals since August— saw Manchester City overcome a sluggish opening to go two goals
up against Everton at the Etihad Stadium. Dominic Calvert Lewin threatened a
brief comeback when he pulled one back for the Merseyside blue, but Raheem
Sterling sealed all three points with his ninth goal of the season, from just
18 shots on target. It was an enthralling game at Vicarage road, as a resurgent
Cardiff City nearly pulled off the comeback of the season, rallying from three
goals down against Watford to bring the scores back to 3-2, but that was how it
ended as Javi Garcia’s men hung on in the closing stages. Salomon Rondon
continued his fine form for Newcastle United who continued their surge up the
table with a 1-0 away win at Huddersfield Town. It was yet another away win as
goals from Robert Snodgrass and Michail Antonio eased West Ham United to a 2-0
win against a defensively naive Fulham. At the Amex Stadium, Chelsea made it
more difficult than it should have been at the end, as a first ever Premier
League goal for Solly March brought Brighton to within touching distance of securing an unlikely point after Pedro and Eden Hazard –yet again pn the score sheet— had struck
with two first half goals for the impressive visitors who stay fourth.
MATCH DAY 18 FIXTURES
21 Dec: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool
22 Dec: Arsenal vs Burnley
22 Dec: Manchester City vs Crystal Palace
22 Dec: Chelsea vs Leicester City
22 Dec: AFC Bournemouth vs Brighton & Hove Albion
22 Dec: Newcastle United vs Fulham
22 Dec: West Ham United vs Watford
22 Dec: Huddersfield Town vs Southampton
22 Dec: Cardiff City vs Manchester United
23 Dec: Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur
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