Premier League Ponderings – Week 13
Saints and the City
Last week I wrote about how easy Southampton’s schedule had been up ‘til now. That changed in a hurry with Manchester City visiting and desperate for a win – especially after Chelsea dropped points. Actually, that’s a dumb thing to say. If Chelsea won, City would’ve needed the win to keep pace; if they’d lost then it’d be this case and more. They needed the win to restore their title credentials after some sloppy games, regardless of what Chelsea did.
This sounds like a funny thing to say about a team that won 8-0 earlier in the season, but Southampton don’t score a lot of goals. 16 in 12 games, ignoring the 8 vs Sunderland. Their strength has been in their defence having only let in 6 prior to this game. They may have 7 clean sheets, but they also hadn’t played any of the top 5 scoring teams. The prowess of Sergio Aguero and co. was gonna be a whole new level for them.
So naturally the Saints found themselves pegged deep for a lot of the first half. I liked how they coped though. See here, 10 men all compact with just Graziano Pelle up front (and out of picture) waiting for the clearance. City enjoy a good siege offensive but they play slowly so you can keep them out if you defend tightly and don’t make silly mistakes.
Southampton’s midfield trio of Morgan Schneiderlin, Victor Wanyama and Steven Davis is a strong one. Davis could maybe add more going forward but he’s one of the more underrated players going around. Schneiderlin’s talent is beyond doubt and Wanyama is a guy I really like. Tough and aggressive, but capable of the intricate too. Young English lad James Ward-Prowse should be back soon also, he’s one destined to play for his country someday.
The first 20 were all City. They drive you back with the air raids of the front three before the heavy artillery of Yaya Toure storms through. Southampton were the first to threaten the scoreboard though, Graziano Pelle slipping in from a cross but his cheeky effort was beaten away by Joe Hart and his Grizzly Bear impersonation. Aguero could have had a penalty – there was definitely some contact (enough of it?) – and a yellow card for diving was a bit much.
The problem with playing compact and deep is that it creates room for a rampaging midfielder. Like Yaya Toure, for example. All tactics have weaknesses, all have areas that can be exploited. You have to live with that and try balance things as best you can. To use a basketball analogy, Ronald Koeman’s boys took away the layups at the expense of a few open three pointers. Morgan Schneiderlin came off hurt at half time pushing Toby Alderweireld into midfield with Mayo Yoshida at the back. Alderweireld played this one too deep but Yaya drilled his shot and with the aid of a slight deflection, Fraser Forster had no chance.
It’s either a credit to Southampton’s defence or an indictment on their attack that City made a sub almost straight after the goal. James Milner came on for Stevan Jovetic to bring some more defensive structure. That’s not much help when Yaya Toure, playing much better these days but still not quite the force of nature of a couple years ago, gives the ball away cheaply, letting Shane Long at Eliaquim Mangala at pace. Mangala bowls him over. Second yellow = a red.
Poor Mangala. He’s a prime example of a big price tag bringing big expectations. The guy’s playing fine mostly and getting slaughtered for every mistake. It’s a very sharp learning curve.
City must have picked up some tips on playing with 10 men from Bayern Munich midweek because they actually ran away with it after Mangala got tossed. Southampton found plenty of confidence and the room to push forward but City were too solid at the back and all it meant was that they left too much room behind the midfield for the Sky Blues to counter in. With Sergio Aguero in tow… And when Frank Lampard gets the ball in this kind of space, you know what’s coming next.
Aguero, man! He didn’t score (though he had a chance he should have) but he assisted the first and third goals, while his movement created the space for Lamps to bury the second. There’s no forward more exciting in England, no player more lethal (except maybe Diego Costa?). I tweeted this on the TNC account last week.
When City are playing like they did against Bayern, that looked every bit the case. When they play like they did against Southampton, not so much. This was a superb performance against a very well structured team. We haven’t seen this sorta thing from Man City since the 4-1 win over Spurs in mid-October.
Can Arsenal Score Goals?
That’s the only question, really. Despite the pitiful depth at the back, the injuries and the form of their midfielders, Arsene Wenger’s ‘stale’ tactics and whatever other rotten fruit you wanna throw at them, the only serious problem I see is the lack of goals. Or, more specifically, finishing.
The Danny Welbeck Revelation has been more of a pleasant happening. He’s not scoring that many goals, he’s not playing much better than he did for United last season. But he’s playing more often and with more freedom and confidence. It’s great to see, he’s such a fun player.
Not a regular goal scorer though. Welbeck ranks seventh in the League in shots per game, but he’s only scored 3 in 10 games. Still, I always felt that he’s a player that brings out the best in others and not the sort of striker whose impact should be judged solely by his goal tally. That’s probably a good part of why he played on the wing for United so often, just to get him in there somehow.
So I really loved what Wenger did against West Brom. Olly Giroud’s back and ready to start, so up front he goes with Welbeck. Not beside him, but in front of him. And it looked a quality combination too, giving Welbeck more of an opportunity to be involved and letting Giroud zone in on that net with a single-minded focus. DW’s an awkward player, the way he plays on his toes. Damn he can link up though.
There was only the one goal in the game, a Welbeck header in the second half, but things looked promising. It’s a shame The Ox couldn’t squeeze into that starting eleven somehow as well.
He’s Been Reading My Letters!
Brendan Rodgers let his cojones go bare by dropping Steven Gerrard against Stoke. And on the 16th anniversary of Stevie G’s debut, too! Hell, Rodgers really swung the axe, leaving Lovren and Moreno on the bench too. His consistent selections have been an obvious point of contention with this team underperforming for well over a month now. Not sure if Glen Johnson or Kolo Toure are the answers but they at least deserved a chance.
It reeeeally wasn’t much of a game though. Check out the highlights and the first thing worth showing was in the 60th minute when Wee Bojan smacked one back off the post for Stoke. Joe Allen probably should have scored 8 minutes later after some gorgeous link up play between Coutinho and Bubba Sterling. Neither team threatened much at all – the first half in particular saw basically zero moments of interest.
But Liverpool got the points when Rickie Lambert’s header came back off the crossbar and Glen Johnson bravely leant into a large Erik Pieters boot for a late winner. Nothing pretty, but an ugly win may be just what this team needed after going 5 games without a win in all comps, and without a Premier League win since October 19th.
Other Thoughts From Week 13
Spurs won 2-1 after falling behind to Everton. That’s three wins in four, all by a score of 2-1, all after falling behind. Odd. Still, it’s got them up to seventh on the table. Even Bobby Soldier scored, which was nice. So did Christian Eriksen, aka Tottenham’s best player. His goal was a beauty, chipping it over Tim Howard and past the defender on the line when most would have gone for the shut-the-eyes-and-blast-it approach.
Oh, but Kevin Mirallas’ opener was something else.
The three promoted teams are all in the relegation zone. Things are looking tough, for Leicester especially, after losing to QPR. At least they finally scored a goal after over 500 minutes without one. Burnley are very average but 3 games unbeaten. Danny Ings’ return has a lot to do with that.
Joe Hart’s moustache/haircut/general demeanour make him the picture of an English army Major in World War II. Are they making an Inglourious Basterds Two?
I didn’t watch Chelsea’s game (gotta sleep sometimes), but I imagine this kinda thing’ll happen a few times this season. Diego Costa relies on service and their support players can be hit or miss, which is the often case with can be the case with young players. Compound that with teams happy to defend for a draw and there’ll be some stalemates. Not very many, mind you.
Over to Man United vs Hull, Van Gaal’s guys can’t go a single game without a new injury. Angel Di Maria limped off in the first half of this one. That’s a big loss, but Ander Herrera, who replaced him, was really good. Michael Carrick is always good, and Juan Mata had his best game of the season. There’s no coincidence that those three are all good passers. Hull City gave the ball away worse than anyone I’ve seen this year. In the first half, in the second half, in United’s half, in their own half, across the backline, out wide, in the middle, long balls, short balls… there was no discrimination to their dedication to conceding possession. Meanwhile United passed at a 92% success rate. Just look at this ritual slaughter.
via whoscored.com
Michael Carrick made 117 of those passes. He’s a metronome. His return from injury has this team playing much, much better.
Wayne Rooney, if you haven’t noticed yet, is on one of those hot streaks where everything he touches turns to gold. He’s in Midas Mode.
And good ol’ RVP. Van Gaal called him out after his shocker against Arsenal, he needed this. He was sharper and more involved (to be expected against a much weaker team) and his goal was marvellous. I’m starting to wonder, though, if maybe he just isn’t a player that can play week in week out any longer? Notice how he tired throughout the World Cup. If that is the case, Louis Van Gaal will know better than anyone. Curious to see if he gets a rest midweek.
Yep, midweek Premier League games. That old staple of the Christmas season. These games are both excusable slip-ups and crucial points. Let the madness begin!