1) Wenger must find Özil help to thrive
After the humiliation of their 4-0 defeat at Liverpool and the perceived humiliation of their end to the transfer window, Arsenal couldn’t have wished for a kinder fixture with which to return – albeit the kind of kinder fixture which frequently challenges them. But however you look at things, Bournemouth have not started the season well, nor are they set up to exploit Arsenal’s weaknesses.
Arsenal will also be helped by the relative stability of knowing that Alexis Sánchez is theirs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not, the project of improving him vain, in vain, and well beyond this iteration of Arsène Wenger. Oxlade-Chamberlain’s selection at Anfield apotheosised Wenger’s current muddle, given: a player keen to join Liverpool; his deployment at wing-back, a position which demands unstinting discipline and commitment; his natural unsuitability for that role; the presence on the bench of a specialist, signed in the summer in order to play that role; the need to move another specialist out of position to accommodate him; against a team renowned for its prowess in wide areas. In Wenger’s long and storied career, this is a decision less explicable than all bar his protracted perseverance with Manuel Almunia.
Now, though, Wenger must settle on his best team and, in particular, trust his new players. The impetuous hardness of Sead Kolasinac will bring a bit of fun if nothing else, while Alexandre Lacazette has the pace and intelligence to help Mesut Özil thrive. And Özil needs help to thrive, a reality which may displease those already displeased by his languid style; they can console themselves with his class and finesse, qualities which do not exactly proliferate among his team-mates. Only an idiot would buy a cat and expect it to behave like a dog.
• Wenger tells Arsenal legends: you weren’t perfect either
2) Shakespeare can undo Chelsea the Leicester way
When Chelsea visited the King Power in January, they were already champions-elect, while Leicester were a mess; as such Claudio Ranieri decided to use a formation similar to that employed by Antonio Conte. Football being football, there are no rules to such things, but generally speaking, if an inferior team apes a superior one, class will prevail; the route to unexpected victory lies in exploiting differences, not creating similarities. So Leicester were handed a comprehensive kicking in which the brace scored by Marcos Alonso, Chelsea’s left wing-back, epitomised their expertise at playing a system that Leicester could not hope to imitate.
This time things will be different. Craig Shakespeare’s players will be sent on to the pitch to do what they do best and take away what Chelsea do best – or, given the likely absence of Eden Hazard, second best. Rather than simply apply their skill, the champions will have to impose their will, engaged not in an exhibition but a fight – and in a fight, anything can happen. Of course, Chelsea may still win, but Leicester are more likely to prevent that by staying true to themselves than by performing a cheap impression of their opposition.
• Leicester battling to sign Silva after missing deadline by 14 seconds
3) Might Goodison be a home from home for Spurs?
Moving into a lavish new home …. that will secure their status for a generation … but at the worst possible time ... is the absolute height of Spurs. Though they have learned something from the errors of others, seemingly building a ground not a stadium, there is no escaping the disaster that was not staying put for one more season. But who was to know that after nearly 30 years without, the club would once again have a team to contest league titles, and for whom the elemental advantages of White Hart Lane – its familiarity, atmosphere and tight spaces – would be so crucial to their style of play.
Now, though, it is impossible to conceive of them becoming champions while playing at Wembley, nor as they settle in somewhere new, and while their fans can wait – it has been a while already – their players cannot afford similar levity. Inevitably, some will leave, whether for medals or financial parity with the third best-paid board in England.
Already this season, Spurs have dropped more points at home than in the entirety of last, and already this season, Spurs have done as they did in the previous two, undermining their title challenge with a slow start. Accordingly, they must get going on their travels, and though they could wish for a more welcoming trip than to Goodison, they will find a pitch almost as compact as that at White Hart Lane, may its memory be for a blessing, and more space in which to enjoy it than was afforded them by Chelsea and Burnley.
With Spurs, there is, in a sense, never anything for which to look out: they play the same way in more or less every game, just far too well for most teams to cope. But on Saturday they will feel they have something to prove, and more than that, they simply cannot afford to lose. In particular, these circumstances should agitate and excite Dele Alli, whose intelligence, attitude and edge were so crucial to England in midweek. As such, watching him perform should be one of the highlights of the weekend – at least for those who prefer football to vacant moralising and self-hating narcissism.
• Pochettino hopes Alli and Aurier furores are over
4) Stoke a barometer for Manchester United’s title credentials
Rarely are titles decided by the big games; in 25 years of the Premier League, you’re looking at 95-96, 97-98, 02-03, 09-10 and 11-12. Which is to say that Manchester United, champions 13 times in that period, were successful mainly because they – or, more properly, their manager – ensured that they generally won when they were supposed to.
On Saturday evening, United are away to Stoke, the archetypal, apocryphal Premier League fixture: the wind blows, the crowd bay, and Rory Delap tames Lionel Messi. Alex Ferguson’s teams were largely impervious to such effects; in five visits to the Potteries they won four and drew one, whereas since his retirement they have recorded two draws and two defeats.
Accordingly, this weekend’s encounter will tell us something of United’s progress, their toughest test so far – all the more so given the momentum-checker that is international fortnight. United have been notable so far this season for how strong they have been in the final quarter of games, but that advantage may be lost to them on this occasion: the majority of Stoke players have had two weeks of rest and preparation, so should be primed for a strong start and finish. If United can emerge with three points, it will be a sign that they are ready to be good again.
5) Guardiola’s ad hoc selection faces stiff Liverpool test
Manchester City and Liverpool have plenty in common: they are fast, attacking, aggressive teams, undermined by inexcusably dodgy defences. But there is one major difference between them: everyone knows exactly how Liverpool will play, whereas no one has any clue how Manchester City play – including the players, by the look of things.
Partly, this is because Pep Guardiola is trying to hide the aforementioned dodgy defence, partly this is because he has more attackers than attacking positions, and partly this is because he is an obsessive perfectionist. So he is still trying to deduce whether he should use two wingers if that limits him to only one striker; whether David Silva, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne can fit into the same team; and how to get 17 full-backs and 24 midfielders into 11 starting spots. Options are useful, but they can also confuse things.
Whoever Guardiola picks on Saturday will not be granted the luxury of easing themselves into the game; they will be put under pressure from the start, particularly in the space between full-backs and centre-backs. Should City survive that opening period, they should have far too much midfield class for Liverpool, but there is no guarantee that another ad hoc selection will be cohesive enough from the off.
• Woodburn set for long-term Liverpool deal after shining for Wales
6) Win or bust for De Boer at Palace
No one could have expected anyone to turn a Sam Allardyce team into a Johan Cruyff team within two months, so Frank de Boer’s failure to achieve that is not why his job is at risk. What’s in question is whether he is even trying and why, in the process, his players must be so utterly befuddled.
It’s common for beneficiaries of privilege to justify their good fortune on the basis that their status simply got their foot in the door, when really – especially in competitive industries – that is not just part of the thing but the whole thing. De Boer was given a job running Ajax’s youth team soon after retiring as a player, progressing to assistant manager of Netherlands before taking over Ajax’s first team. He enjoyed some success there, though none of it especially noteworthy beyond its basic fact, and eventually resigned after failing to win the league in consecutive seasons, trailing the champions by 17 points in the first of those. This was enough to earn him a job at Internazionale, who fired him after 85 miserable days; seven months later he arrived at Selhurst Park, bringing with him the assistant manager and head of performance who had been so effective in Milan.
Essentially, had De Boer not been a decent player he would not have got his first job nor any subsequent job; the number of elite players who become elite managers is small; and failing at a bigger club is not a harbinger of success at a smaller club. There is little in De Boer’s CV which suggests he has what it takes to succeed a Premier League polymath like Allardyce – you laugh, but it’s true – it’s just that privilege really doesn’t care for such fripperies.
In which context it is no great surprise that Palace are in a bad way, nor that they have allegedly given De Boer one game – this weekend’s trip to Burnley – to save his job. That might not seem like rational behaviour, but then neither was appointing him in the first place.
7) Huddersfield can make September bleak for Hammers
Just this week, Bruno de Carvalho, the director of Sporting, described David Gold and David Sullivan as the “dildo brothers”. In normal circumstances, this could be easily laughed off – it is, after all, extremely amusing – but these are not, even by the standards of West Ham supporters, normal circumstances. It is, presumably, rather galling to be patronised by pornographers, likewise by their vice-chair whose personal website describes her as an “inspiration to women everywhere” – and this week they have added a new wrinkle to their skillset, unwittingly flaunting their transfer market incompetence for all to cringe.
Which is to say that West Ham are, objectively speaking, an absolute joke. They have left their home and their heartland for no apparent gain, their manager isn’t up to it, and they are bottom of the league. Of course supporters will always have the elements over which the club has no control – friends, family, identity and routine – but the actual football part of things could scarcely look more hopeless.
So on Monday night, things could be fractious. Full of confidence and points, Huddersfield will not freeze; they will turn up to win, and with a plan. West Ham, on the other hand, have looked clueless for sometime, but now have one potential saving grace: a goalscorer. Javier Hernández has scored for and against some of the best teams in the world, and his infectious enthusiasm might just get things going. If it cannot, and if they cannot beat a promoted team at home, September in Stratford will feel like winter in Winterfell.
8) Will Hughton be bold against Baggies?
Though many promoted sides go straight back down again, many also register a surprise early win or two, fired with enthusiasm and fortified by a winning mentality. Brighton, on the other hand, have mustered no such thing, drawing once, losing twice, and scoring nil thrice in their three games so far; as such, they lie 17th in the table. And worse than that, among the sides above them are those with whom they came up, and among the sides below them are West Ham and Crystal Palace, both of whom will eventually improve.
West Brom at home is precisely the kind of game a promoted side would look to win in every circumstance, except that this West Brom are fifth in the table after recording two wins and a draw. They may have scored only once in each game, but they have conceded only once in three games; they may not have faced a murderer’s row of opposition, but they will be confident and grooved; beating them will not be easy.
All this gives Chris Hughton has a decision to make. So far this season he has picked a different attacking combination to start each game, making whatever he does on Saturday no more than an educated guess. But for a home fixture of this ilk, perhaps he might go with what works, playing Tomer Hemed and Glenn Murray together. Yes, there is a risk of being outnumbered and outplayed in midfield, but in the end, if you do not score, you cannot win.
9) Bayern’s loss is Swansea’s gain
Players who can carry the ball through the middle of the pitch are not easy to find, which makes it surprising – and a little disconcerting – that Renato Sanches has pitched up at Swansea. That he made no impression at Bayern Munich is no shame – it is hard to carve a niche in a midfield already perming from Arturo Vidal, Thiago Alcântara, Thomas Müller, Xabi Alonso, Joshua Kimmich – and now, Corentin Tolisso, James Rodríguez and Sebastian Rudy. But the disinterest shown in him by any of Europe’s biggest clubs suggests that all is not as it should be which, counter-intuitively, represents a fantastic opportunity for Paul Clement and Swansea City. They have got themselves a player with great talent and zest, whose bold, bustling game is ideal for the Premier League. It will be fascinating and exciting to see how he fares.
10) Richarlison one to watch in battle to be best of rest
It is not hard to predict the top seven finishers in this season’s Premier League; simply consult the top seven finishers in last season’s Premier League. But below that there are places are up for grabs, and both Watford and Southampton will fancy themselves to top that middle section.
That said, we do not really know what to expect from either, as both have new managers while Watford have signed a raft of new players. And, keen though people are to rush to immediate judgment, we cannot know how well those players will play until, well, we see them play. In the meantime, though, we can invest in Richarlison, who was outstanding in his team’s win at Bournemouth. There’s something special about Brazilian attackers, especially in England where we don’t get many, let alone many who succeed, so we can spend at least the next couple of months looking out for the latest pretender in the hope that he’ll grow into the real deal. The early signs are good.
