Premier League winners and losers: Arsenal, Spurs, Maguire great; City, Frank, Klopp questioned
Arsenal overcame their final obstacle and Maguire helped show Ten Hag which Manchester United players he can trust. Brentford and Bournemouth are in trouble.
Arsenal
Those who scoffed at Arsenal’s celebrations when winning the Community Shield two months ago were guilty of wilful ignorance in this era of incessant and laborious point-scoring. While Rio Ferdinand led the charge of Gunner mockery, Aaron Ramsdale said it best.
“It’s a marker to know we can go and beat Man City in a big game when it matters.” Well, quite.
That scornful reaction was the culmination of a couple of years’ worth of the same pundits wheeling out the same lines about the same old Arsenal: revelling in mediocrity before drowning in hubris.
The only problem was that Arsenal had transformed before their very eyes and plenty had not bothered to update their views to reflect that.
This is not the Arsenal of soft core or spongy backbone, the Arsenal of false dawns and misguided hope, the Arsenal that collapses into itself at the first sign of pressure or expectation. This is a different beast entirely: confident, streetwise, durable, pragmatic.
Arsenal had not played a Premier League game without Bukayo Saka in so long that Mo Elneny and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were their scorers on that day. Arsenal had not beaten Manchester City in the Premier League in so long that Yaya Toure’s goal was no consolation to efforts from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud. Arsenal had lost 10 consecutive Premier League games against reigning champions by an aggregate score of 5-31, last beating such a team – Leicester – in April 2017. Before then, it was a win at the Etihad in January 2015.
They restricted Manchester City to the absolute bare minimum in attack and created their own luck at the other end with a goal created by three of Mikel Arteta’s substitutes and scored by the fourth. Both sides reduced the margins to a status so slender that a deflection of that kind could always have decided the result, and that will naturally colour perspectives: if Arsenal draw that game it might have been seen as an opportunity missed but an 86th-minute winner is A Sign Of Champions™.
But outcome bias notwithstanding, that was a victory of character as much as quality for an Arsenal side many still deem lacking enough of the former to properly compete. The sensational William Saliba – who confirmed his place as the league’s second-best centre-half – captured the essence of the game perfectly: it is impossible to say what impact it will have on the war right now, but Arsenal won each of their individual battles to land a resounding blow on their rivals. There are no obstacles left that they have not proven capable of overcoming.
16 CONCLUSIONS: Rice and Saliba inspire Arsenal to conquer their Everest with victory over Man City
Spurs
Harry Kane was the goalscorer the last seven times Spurs had won a game 1-0 in any competition. That neatly sums up how he had become something of a cheat code hastily inputted by increasingly unimaginative managers who knew if they kept the score level for long enough, the striker would more often than not prove to be the difference on the day.
It was so long ago that Spurs had won a game 1-0 without Kane scoring the decisive goal, that Claudio Ranieri was left to rue Davinson Sanchez’s stoppage-time winner which finally vanquished Watford on New Year’s Day 2022.
Spurs did not beat Luton because of one man: Micky van de Ven got the goal but Cristian Romero, James Maddison, Pape Matar Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski were particularly excellent, especially when Yves Bissouma was foolish enough to put them at a disadvantage. Spurs persevered and prospered through the strength of their team rather than a reliance on any one individual. Therein lies the beauty of the nascent reign of Ange Postecoglou. There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’. Or ‘mate’. Obviously.
READ MORE: Tottenham won’t stay top of the Premier League without January recruit to replace goal-shy forward
Chelsea
The first time they have had three or more different scorers in a game since May. Consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since March. A first Premier League win from behind since last October. The first time they have scored four or more goals in any game since April 2022.
These are baby steps but anything resembling forward motion will be rightly embraced by Mauricio Pochettino.
Harry Maguire
“He is Manchester United in his heart. He is playing for the badge and gives his life. When you are coming on and giving this to the team it tells a lot,” Erik ten Hag said of Scott McTominay after his stoppage-time goals rescued Manchester United against Brentford.
It was not difficult to read between the lines of praise to see the second-hand criticism levelled at unnamed teammates, even before the Dutchman held up a mirror to the rest of the squad when saying: “Too many times in the first half of this season we got eaten by opponents who are more hungry. This can’t be. Every player has to deliver that in every second he is on the pitch.”
If Ten Hag wants this to be a “turning point” for his players, he cannot pretend the same doesn’t count for him. His substitutions helped conjure victory when defeat was staring Manchester United in the face but much like last season, when the Dutchman joined his players in running those kilometres as punishment for a heavy loss against Brentford, there have to be consequences for everyone despite a last-gasp win over the Bees.
No longer can Ten Hag pick his favourites without expecting scrutiny. Marcus Rashford has been substituted early in three successive games. Casemiro was taken off because, by the manager’s own admission, he “wanted more football”. Both have been in miserable form this season and must realise their places are not automatically assured.
McTominay and Alejandro Garnacho helped sum up that threat from the bench but a word to Maguire, whose response to being relegated comically far down the central-defensive pecking order and blamed for choosing not to leave this summer was exemplary. A minor part in that risible Mathias Jensen goal aside, Maguire led by example when many others would have wilted under the pressure, culminating in a match-winning assist.
Manchester United undoubtedly have better players than their former captain, but few who play for the badge quite as openly. Even if just to prove his point, Ten Hag needs to lean on Maguire and McTominay more after the international break.
3PM BLACKOUT: McTominay shames Casemiro with Man United ‘hunger’; Iraola nearly gone
Harry Maguire assist. I think he's been out best player by far today. And that's coming from someone who advocated launching him into the sun. Fair play to him and McTominay today. Credit where it's due. Well done to the pair of them.
— Doc (@Doc_Joshi) October 7, 2023
Everton
The silver lining is starting to envelop those foreboding clouds. In one of the great statistics of the season so far, Everton rank 10th in Europe’s top five leagues for shots per game, sitting snugly in between Barcelona and Manchester City as England’s second-best team by that metric. Sean Dyche’s Total Football is coming.
Their problem, more often than not, has been a profligacy at one end combined with a penchant for individual error at the other. Until this weekend, Everton were struggling to finish their own meals while helping spoon-feed their opponents. It was a recipe for relegation, even if that particular line seems likely to be lower than usual this season.
Things clicked against Bournemouth. The selection from the manager was perfect and the application from the players matched it. James Garner has had to be patient since joining last year but he sums up Everton’s requisite of hard work, Jack Harrison has added a new dimension to the attack and the Toffees have never lost a game in which Abdoulaye Doucoure has scored.
With the impeccable Jarrad Branthwaite helping establish greater consistency at the back, Dyche might finally have found a workable formula with viable alternatives too; Everton have capable squad options for the first time in recent memory.
They did follow their last win by becoming the first team to ever lose a Premier League game to Luton, but still.
Carlos Vinicius
Raul Jimenez might have liked the opportunity to end his personal goal drought against the Premier League’s bottom side and worst defence, but patience in the Mexican appears to have finally and understandably worn thin. Even when the time came for Marco Silva to end Vinicius’ first start of the season after 77 tireless minutes, it was Rodrigo Muniz who got the nod up front.
The switch from Jimenez to Vinicius did not directly lead to more goals but the latter’s link-up play was a marked improvement on what came before. While the chances did not fall to the Brazilian specifically, the opening goal showcased his ability to stitch attacks together in a way Jimenez simply cannot: the strength and skill to hold off Auston Trusty was matched by a sublime pass which sent Andreas Pereira on his way to set up Bobby Decordova-Reid.
Vinicius was the ideal centre-forward foil for a Fulham side which looked far more functional for his presence; only Willian (eight) had more shot-creating actions than his compatriot (five). And Jimenez should not be too disheartened because his time will come again if Vinicius continues to express himself so freely with those elbows.
Brighton: the entertainers
One year and a week separated Roberto De Zerbi’s first and most recent game as a Premier League manager. The Italian kicked off with an exhilarating 3-3 draw against Liverpool at Anfield in October 2022 and bookended a transformative 12 months with a 2-2 draw against the Reds at the Amex.
The starting line-up for that first game feels like it’s from a different era altogether. Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster; March, Mac Allister, Caicedo, Estupinan; Gross, Trossard; Welbeck. As many players have since left – including the hat-trick scorer – as were named to face Liverpool on Sunday. And even then, Solly March and Pascal Gross were both used in different roles, while Veltman and Dunk were defending in an alternative formation, as is the De Zerbi way.
Since the 44-year-old’s appointment, Premier League games involving Brighton have seen 146 goals scored. Spurs are next on 135, followed by Arsenal (129) and Liverpool (128). De Zerbi has overseen one 0-0 league draw in 40 matches. While not always to their benefit, it is incredible fun to watch and a mark of how far they’ve come: Brighton’s 40 league games prior to De Zerbi’s arrival included 94 goals and five 0-0s, and their current run of scoring in 24 consecutive Premier League games is by far the longest of any club.
It’s great for the neutral, if not always the fan.
Wolves
No Premier League team has spent longer either winning, drawing or trailing in their games this season than Wolves have being level. Gary O’Neil’s side have been on equal terms for 65% of their matches thus , including all but a couple of minutes of their Molineux meeting with Aston Villa.
Sam Johnstone
No Premier League keeper has kept as many clean sheets as Johnstone’s four so far this season. Across Europe’s top five divisions, only Marcin Bulka (Nice), Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao) and Yann Sommer (Inter) can beat the 30-year-old.
A hard-fought 0-0 and third consecutive clean sheet is a remarkably fitting way for Roy Hodgson to celebrate his 400th game as a Premier League manager. But first and foremost, Gareth Southgate needs to shove his recency bias, stop being a coward and accept that Jordan Pickford and Aaron Ramsdale cannot fasten Johnstone’s gloves.
Alexander Isak
Newcastle have some unavoidable questions to answer when it comes to Sandro Tonali but at least Isak is quietly approaching Erling Haaland levels of being prolific on the periphery. The Swede actually recorded his highest number of touches in a Premier League game so far this season against West Ham, but those two goals mean he is scoring every 22.2 touches; Haaland is scoring every 20. The two best out-and-out centre-forwards in the country might be closer than first thought.
Hwang Hee-chan
Currently scoring at a rate of one goal every 35.8 touches, but don’t make the mistake of thinking he isn’t weirdly inevitable.
Murillo
The best centre-half in the Premier League.
That Murillo run 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/I3DeddfcWw
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) October 9, 2023
Losers
Manchester City
The last time Manchester City lost consecutive Premier League games just so happened to coincide with a two-game spell Fernandinho spent out injured with a thigh strain. John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan could not do quite the same job as single pivots against Crystal Palace or Leicester in December 2018 and it had an effect on the entire team.
City had learned how to cope as Fernandinho’s body started to struggle under the weight of tactical fouling and an expectation that comes with being an elite safety blanket, to the point that when he was ruled out for seven subsequent games for three different injuries during the rest of that season, City simply won them all.
There is a simpler solution to this problem, with Rodri’s suspension expiring upon the final whistle at the Emirates. Three defeats from as many games in his absence suggests he might be quite important to how this side functions as a whole.
The loss of Kevin De Bruyne has been equally keenly felt. The Belgian scored or assisted five of the goals Manchester City scored against Arsenal in the Premier League last season; without him, Haaland looks increasingly isolated and the four shots they managed in defeat to the Gunners was the joint-lowest league total ever mustered by a Pep Guardiola side.
When City suffered those successive losses to Palace and Leicester almost five years ago, it handed the title advantage to a phenomenal Liverpool side who had only recently emerged as their closest challengers. Guardiola oversaw a run of 18 wins from their next 19 league games in response to wrestle the trophy away from their grasp. The assumption is that City will embark on a similar sprint finish from way back, particularly with their trademark improvements in the second half of seasons. But it feels like that is based more on what City usually do than what they actually might do, because they look far from imperious right now.
READ MORE: Liverpool keeper, Man Utd struggler, City forward in Prem weekend’s worst XI…
Brentford
Thomas Frank described it as “brutal”, “unfair” and “so close to being a perfect away performance” and it would be foolish to argue otherwise. Brentford forced enough mistakes to take a lead they defended diligently but sometimes Scott McTominay scores twice in stoppage-time and there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it.
But this is the sort of quiet crisis Brentford encountered and overcome midway through their first Premier League season. A four-game unbeaten start has morphed into a six-match winless run for a team which has scored the opening goal in five fixtures – only Arsenal (six) and West Ham (seven) have done so more often – while dropping 11 points from winning positions. Add those on, crude as such equations can be, and Brentford would be above Liverpool in fourth. As it is, they are 15th and looking down, paying for a difficult summer which has been compounded by the unavailability of a couple of crucial players.
The good thing is that they are not doing anything particularly wrong. The bad thing is that they are not doing anything particularly wrong. Frank naturally needs to change something, even if just to coax some luck and arrest the backwards momentum, but beyond expediting Ivan Toney’s suspension or going back in time to not re-sign Neal Maupay, it is difficult to say what.
Bournemouth
Still yet to play a Premier League game they did not lose the corresponding version of last season, but far more importantly, still yet to provide enough evidence that Andoni Iraola might eventually make this work at Bournemouth.
The fear must have been that a rotten schedule to start the season would have two interconnected consequences in the worst-case scenario: that Bournemouth would struggle to build momentum and hit the ground running, particularly after a summer of upheaval; and that the difficulty of their opponents would help obfuscate their struggles. It is easy to explain losses to Liverpool, Spurs, Brighton and Arsenal but when they damage confidence enough to lead to that most rare of things – a comprehensive home win for Everton – then the problems might be more substantial than first feared.
Iraola is at least aware he has to “show” why Bournemouth entrusted him with this stage of their planned evolution. There is little point in pretending any of this has gone to plan so far. But if home games against Wolves and Burnley do not produce at least one Cherries win – and two significantly improved performances – then it is difficult to see this experiment lasting much longer.
Andoni Iraola on the sidelines.
Liverpool
It all seems very 2017/18 around Liverpool, from the wider context of a chaotic team gunning opponents down as often as they shoot themselves in the foot, to the minutiae of losing to Spurs and relying on the unmatched brilliance of Mo Salah.
Perhaps that is to be expected with this stage of the Liverpool reboot. Klopp did not build his first Anfield winning machine overnight, nor from scratch. It took time to figure out which parts needed to go where and whether any components would have to be imported.
Whoever the Reds sign in midfield next could have the same impact as Alisson or Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool are an imperious team going forward but Alexis Mac Allister cannot be expected to screen that defence in any consistent way. Opponents will prey on his weaknesses in that position – particularly opponents who used to coach and train with him every day – and the rest of the team will naturally be unsettled.
Liverpool were thrilling but unsustainable all those years ago and Klopp knew it. He redressed that balance incredibly well and must eventually do so again.
Jacob Brown
Five completed passes (the second-lowest of any player, with the worst passing accuracy). No tackles or interceptions. The most fouls of any player. One failed dribble. Fewer ball recoveries than every Luton outfielder bar one of the four substitutes. No shot-creating actions, with the only other starters for the hosts to manage that being the two centre-halves and goalkeeper.
Only three players have taken more shots than Brown this season (14) without scoring. Jordan Ayew, Philip Billing and Enzo Fernandez (all 15) are sparing the Hatters’ summer signing that particular ignominy but free headers like those missed against Spurs do sting that little bit more for a club in Luton’s position.
West Ham
Only one club across Europe’s top five leagues have scored the opening goal in more games so far this season than West Ham. Inter have managed that feat in all eight of their Serie A matches, while Real Sociedad (seven) are the only other team capable of even matching the Hammers. That is David Moyes heritage.
The flipside is that only three Premier League clubs have dropped more points from winning positions than West Ham, who are top by four points in a table based only on first-half results, but 14th in a second-half equivalent. Whatever Moyes is saying to his players at half-time, he should probably stop.
Vincent Kompany
“Next season Turf Moor has to be hell for every team that comes and plays there,” Kompany said this summer when celebrating Burnley’s promotion. Thus far only one side has struggled to handle the stadium’s heat. The Clarets were given no favours with the fixture list but that is scant consolation for only the fifth side to start a top-flight English league campaign with five consecutive home defeats.
Three of the previous four were relegated in the same season. Hoping to emulate 2018/19 Newcastle is not the best of positions to be in.
Kieran Trippier
Six assists in his last four games. Now to stick him at left-back for a week.
Sheffield United
Six of Sheffield United’s eight opponents have had their most shots in a game so far this season when facing the Blades: Crystal Palace (24), Nottingham Forest (16), Manchester City (29), Spurs (28), West Ham (20) and Fulham (20).
There are two rather weird anomalies in Everton and Newcastle, who have exceeded the 16 and 22 attempts they mustered against Sheffield United. But those are bleak numbers for Paul Heckingbottom’s side, who have faced at least 31 more shots than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues and have the worst goal difference and xGA. Sometimes things really are that simple and that stark.
Wes Foderingham
A perfect success-rate from two take-ons. Only seven Premier League players have attempted more without being tackled at least once. Shame about the whole conceding loads of goals and even scoring them with his own actual back thing.
