Premier League review, week 1: Ferguson proves continuity is key
Finally order has returned. Forget baton wielding police officers and anarchic streets, football is back; providing weekends with a whole new level of importance. Saturday kicked-off the 20th Premier League season posing many questions: how would Arsenal cope without Fabregas and (possibly) Nasri? Could Liverpool re-emerge from mediocrity? What impact would the loss of experienced stalwarts have upon the champions, battling against even hungrier Chelsea and Manchester City sides?
In the end however, the opening weekend seemingly flattered to deceive. Those expecting goals were left disappointed, aside from the customary wake up call suffered by the newly promoted clubs – QPR and Swansea both losing 4 – 0 – the games remained tight, lumbering affairs. Arsenal’s lack of depth was again exposed; Van Persie, the lone attacking focal point, found himself supported by a midfield alarmingly lacking in creativity. “Plan B”, even if it were to exist, was not an option if one considers that the Dutchman is soon to become one of only two recognised strikers: the other being a certified first season failure. Arsene’s summer signing have reinforced this inflexibility, Gervinho adding little new to the set-up whilst Oxlade-Chamberlain, at 17, is far from ready to make a significant first-team impact.
Where’s your head at?
Regardless, it is clear the most chronic problem facing Arsenal concerns not sparsity of talent but lack of leadership and stability. Arshavin, Ramsey and Rosicky have the vision and ability to unlock any defence, but fail to exert authority on the team. The incidents with Joey Barton confirmed a group of players crying out for guidance, bereft of an experienced individual able to drive the team forward and enthuse mental stability. Now Fabregate has finally been concluded, the money must be reinvested to guide the emerging talents rather than add to them. If anything, Saturday proved the speculation over Fabregas and Nasri has far from galvanised the team, instead Wenger’s crop appear too riddled with insecurity to rise to the task.
Arsenal need a leader to keep the collective in check
The same fundamental issues were evident in Liverpool’s 1 -1 draw at Sunderland and Chelsea’s stalemate against Stoke. Although Kenny Dalglish has added extensively to his squad this summer, leading many pundits to cast them as possible top four material, potential does not equate to instant attainment. Sunderland gave a solid performance and can confidently look to make strides this season but Liverpool must win such fixtures if they are to become credible contenders once again. The fluidity of passing faltered after half-time, an expected consequence of so many new faces; while intuity of understanding will come in time, the extent of Liverpool’s success depends on how quickly this forms. Moreover, although the return of a fully fit Steven Gerrard can only aid this process, it also adds another layer of complexity to an already disorientating midfield selection headache. Even when these obstacles are navigated, Liverpool like Manchester City, lack the title winning experience that Manchester United and Chelsea can call upon. Only success can breed success.
A special team, not a special one
Perversely, new Chelsea manager Villas Boas faced a reverse dilemma but one borne from identical roots. The Chelsea squad boasts vast trophy winning experience and a largely settled squad history, yet a revolving management door has stifled continuity and the cutting edge that typified the Mourinho era. Last term, Abramovich falsely identified swift individual adjustments as the the solution to issues of team dynamic – questions which instead required long term perspective. Ironically, the transfer of Fernando Torres for such a large transfer fee forced Ancelloti into decisions that were to the detriment of the team and his own position, most notably picking an out of form Torres over Drogba in the Champions League quarter final. Despite a new manager for a new season, the team is still facing a period of transition and adaptation. For all the encouraging signs of a personal return to form by Torres yesterday, the team still need to adapt his style of play. Tied to this is the importance of a creative midfield force, of which there proved to be a damning absence on Sunday. Considering the advancing years of both Benayoun and Lampard, a youthful alternative needs to be found and Modric would be the perfect replacement. If this area is not addressed the team will continue to struggle against physically imposing opposition such as Stoke who are difficult to break down. Ultimately, the club is paying the price for a fractured hierarchy of authority and a history focused on securing the immediate present rather than the future.
A creative midfield is necessary for Chelsea to get the best out of Torres
We see then that at the heart of this weekends big stories lay the importance of continuity. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have all struggled to maintain stability in recent seasons. It is therefore no suprise that the team with the strongest foundations, Manchester United, were the biggest winners from the opening weekend. Even following the loss of Scholes, Neville and Van der Sar, United kept faith in a progressive youth system; investing in young talent to blend in with evolving players, such as Smalling and Nani who themselves continue to learn from the experienced professionals: Vidic, Ferdinand and Rooney. Unlike Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City, the transitionary process has been correctly balanced to ensure it is mutually beneficial. At the center of this transition remains Ferguson, who’s longevity has provided him with the authority and oppourtunity to create a culture of success. Ferguson’s youthful team selection with an average age of 24 and relative rookie Cleverley in midfield, came as a shock to many. However, it should be seen as the culmination of a long term process now coming to fruition. He has ensured, unlike Wenger, that he can always rely upon a foundation of experience within the team to ease the strain caused by the process of renewal. Even though the team lost the key centre back pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand to injury, new recruit and England U21 captain Phil Jones looked more than capable. For the game against Tottenham next week Evra will be back to provide authority, whilst Jones’s probable partner, Smalling, earned invaluable experience last season. Similairly, the smooth intergration of Ashley Young is a fitting testament to United’s transfer policy; the understanding of which player is needed and at what time for both the individual and team chemistry.
Young and Rooney combined to exemplify United's team cohesion, whilst Cleverley has come up through the ranks
Yes, Manchester City did set down a statement of intent on Monday night. However, as usual the win was secured through a handful of individual performances, this time from Silva and the awe inspiring Aguero. The delicate process of team dynamic and continuity that Ferguson has managed to master, evident between Rooney, Young, Nani and Welbeck, remains elusive. One caller on 606 referred to Young as ‘Giggs and Beckham esque’ and United’s 86th minute winner proved that for success, the more things change, the more they must stay the same.
Couple of things (if I may) – I’d disagree that Gervinho hasn’t added anything much to Arsenal. Asides from getting sent off he put in a solid debut in my opinion and looks to be a good purchase. He’s been good in preseason and they’ll miss him a hell of a lot for the next three matches. Not sure how much I agree that ‘success breeds success’ either. It’s an oft-spouted cliche, but it’s usually just true because other teams are better rather than true in itself. City have tasted success now in winning the FA Cup. Spain hadn’t had any success at all as a nation until 2008, but no one would have written them off for the Euros back then or the World Cup last year. I agree with you on Chelsea. Completely disagree that Man United were the biggest winners – they lost three crucial players to injury and didn’t look that steady in defence to me. Ashley Young looked excellent, Cleverley was alright, but De Gea will take some time to settle. City must surely be the biggest winners? Aguero had the dream debut and he was only on the pitch for half an hour! Silva was fantastic too. The only slight concern might be Yaya Toure drifting in and out of the game a bit, but if that’s the biggest problem then you’re set. No team has had more shots on target than City had against Swansea since Spurs beat Wigan 9-1 a few years back. I wouldn’t call it a handful of individual performances either. Micah Richards linked up well for his assist, Aguero and Silva communicated perfectly, the whole defensive line knew what they were about as a unit and Mancini’s substitutions were in the interest of the team and the way they were playing together at the time – taking off Nigel De Jong for another striker was a statement of intent and a recognition that the team was playing together in a way that didn’t require what De Jong lent them.
Sorry if this sounds hypercritical, I went off on one a bit! Nicely written. I’m going to try and remember to follow this blog!
Just going to add a couple more things.
City for me were the biggest winners but Bolton and Sunderland are in with a shout as well. Bolton did well to come back together after an early scare and put four goals past a team who aren’t as weak as they seemed on Saturday. Taarabt was completely contained, not the top threat QPR’s admirers have been putting him down as. Cahill is such a good player for Bolton, he’s so solid defensively and can do a job going forward as well. It’s nice to see that he hasn’t been affected by all the transfer speculation. Klasnic is deservedly one of the players of the weekend. Sunderland are up there for me because to give away a penalty and later a goal in the opening few minutes and still come back to draw against a side which completely dominated the game takes a lot of self-belief. They’re going to have another steady campaign and they know that they can go into matches with a Stoke-like attitude of not having to fear the bigger teams.
To add a little more about City, Clichy’s performance was a lot better than I was expecting. He was collected and showed more promise than the other full backs City have signed in recent seasons. I should have mentioned that a lot of press coverage has focused on whether City will miss Tevez or not. You’d have to think not considering how well both Dzeko and Aguero played! That is surely something that cannot go ignored.
Perhaps more attention should be paid to some of the midtable teams. In particular, Aston Villa. Losing Downing and Young would have been detrimental to them a while back, but although they didn’t offer a lot in attack, Shay Given will be a fantastic signing and Luke Young will only get better. Bent and Agbonlahor will start scoring soon and Blackburn is one of the better fixtures for them to have at the moment. They’re very poor this season – losing at home to Wolves only evidences that, especially as it could have been by more. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them get relegated this year. It’s a shame Spurs vs Everton was called off. I thought Stoke were very good indeed against Chelsea. It’s only the second Premier League point they’ve got against the Blues. Woodgate completed the match for them, Huth was brilliant and they’ve got enough talent in midfield to secure a top ten place. They’ll be even harder to beat than last season. Begovic was brilliant in goal. In fact, we saw a lot of excellent goalkeeping performances this weekend – along with Begovic we have Vorm for Swansea (12-15 saves!), Foster for West Brom and of course Given. It’s going to be such a good season!
Hey Michael, thanks for taking the time to offer such a detailed response.
I agree with much of what you say. Cahill is indeed a brilliant player but with big teams such as Arsenal showing interest, I do wonder how long they can keep him. Yes, Klasnic did play well, however following the departures of both Sturridge and Elmander the team has lost much attacking versatility. As I mentioned in my article I do believe Sunderland can push forward this season in confidence, they bought well in the summer but nonetheless finding consistency is key. Stoke did execute their game plan well; Woodgate and Etherington were particularly impressive.
I still stand by my belief that United were the biggest winners. It’s easy to get carried away with City’s win. Granted, the new recruits did look impressive but the context of the opposition needs to be remembered. Swansea were facing their first game in the top flight and although they showed encouraging signs of playing positive passing football it is not surprising that they faltered after the hour mark; given the circumstances, many top premiership sides would have run riot after the first goal. Furthermore, City continue to suffer from sluggish, error strewn starts where they fail to get going and against top class opposition with more experience they will be punished. We’ll see about United, I have no doubt Giggs will play some part next week to steady the ship and Evra can provide experience.
As for success not breeding success, surely this was a key ingredient in United’s title triumph last season?
Regarding comment on mid-table teams, this is indeed something I am going to include. Simply, I was looking for the biggest story of the weekend and with so many low scores, I felt it was right to focus at the top. Villa I am sceptical about, I’m sure they’ll stay safe but I have my doubts that McLeish is the man to take them forward.
An interesting site – good luck in your YKTS venture. The football posting is very good but when is there going to be more content under the other headings? I am looking forward to reading your film reviews – you seem to have some interesting insights. Overall I think you should really start filling this site with content, particularly under the headings you have already established. Mail me when you have more to share. Good luck. Ambrose
Hi Alexander – a very good start but as Ambrose has pointed out, it is just the start. Why not aim to have some reviews under all the headings by the end of August – August 2011 that is. Crack on and don’t let the turkeys get you down.
Hi Hun, Footie stuff is not my scene but you look cute, so keep it up Big Boy! Rosie xxx