1. Mata needs to be played centrally
While their performance was by no means disastrous in the context of their season, Manchester United were at far from their creative best against Arsenal last night.
And it is an issue that has been evident all season for United. They have managed just 41 goals in total so far — a particularly paltry statistic, by their high standards, when compared with Liverpool (66 goals) and Man City (68 goals).
Therefore, it’s been somewhat of surprise that they have elected to consistently play Juan Mata — their expensive new signing who was brought in primarily to create and score goals — out of position.
Last night against Arsenal, Mata was primarily deployed on the left wing — and while he is too intelligent a player to be rendered entirely ineffectual when positioned there, his impact is certainly reduced.
Of course, the problem is that playing Mata in his favoured central attacking position would surely mean relegating Wayne Rooney, with the option of either playing him out wide or in a deeper midfield position (which has happened sporadically) not likely to go down especially well with the notoriously temperamental England international.
Consequently, Moyes faces a considerable conundrum: does he persist in placating Rooney — who is rumoured to be leaving in the summer anyway — or does he pick the Spaniard in his best position on a regular basis at his colleague’s expense?
2. Reports of Gerrard’s demise have been greatly exaggerated
As is the case with seemingly every top-class footballer approaching their twilight years, there is a seemingly insatiable urge to write off Steven Gerrard among many critics.
Yet the England midfielder proved last night against Fulham, as he has on several occasions this campaign, that he remains an important member of Liverpool’s side.
Clearly, some of his powers are diminished — gone are the omnipotent days when opposition players joked about him being able to head in his own crosses.
Nevertheless, his exceptional passing ability remains — as was patently the case, when he sublimely set up Liverpool’s opener at Craven Cottage, while four goals in his last six matches further underlines his contribution from an attacking viewpoint.
Yet perhaps even more importantly, he possesses a more intangible quality, namely the willingness to take responsibility and be relied upon to score a match-winning penalty in the last minute — one of the many courageous and impressive feats that are rarely as easy as Gerrard so frequently makes them look.
3. Tottenham’s top-four hopes could rest on Adebayor shoulders
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It is hard to argue against the suggestion that Emmanuel Adebayor is emphatically proving Andre Villas-Boas wrong currently.
With eight goals in his last ten matches, including two against Newcastle on Wednesday evening, the Togo-Born striker’s form is one of the key reasons why Tottenham have improved under Tim Sherwood.
Former manager Villas-Boas had previously ostracised Adebayor from the first team, instead opting to persist with misfiring Spanish international Roberto Soldado and even picking Jermain Defoe ahead of him on occasion.
Yet Villas Boas’ reservations should not be dismissed unequivocally — he previously fell out of favour despite showing signs of promise at both Arsenal and Man City, and the issues at Spurs suggested he may become one of numerous enigmatic and talented strikers who somehow fail to reach their full potential.
Accordingly, there remains a lingering suspicion that Adebayor performs to the fullest only when he has to. For instance, when he needed to turn his Tottenham loan move into a permanent one, he scored 17 goals in 33 matches, but once he had achieved that ambition, he only managed 5 goals in 25 games the following season.
Moreover, in the two fixtures where they have been truly tested this season under Sherwood — against Arsenal and Man City — Adebayor and Tottenham have floundered.
The London club will thus hope that their mercurial striker can definitively put his erratic past behind him and silence the naysayers. And with Sherwood consistently choosing him to lead the line, their Champions League hopes largely depend on the 29-year-old doing as much.
4. The current top-two possess the same problem
It’s intriguing that the two teams currently at the top of the league are ostensibly suffering because of the exact same issue.Unlike some of their rivals, neither Arsenal nor Chelsea possess a genuine world-class striker, with both sides’ goals-scored ratio well below Man City and Liverpool, both of whom are hot on their heels in the title race.
None of Chelsea’s strikers have even managed to come close to double figures in the league yet, while Olivier Giroud’s 10 goals in 23 games is a respectable but hardly world-class tally.
In addition, these deficiencies were clear during the week. Giroud wasted some decent chances against United, while Chelsea struggled in attack against West Brom.
By contrast, Man City have at least three strikers that would easily find a place in either of the aforementioned sides, not to mention Suarez and Sturridge’s phenomenal hot streak.
Even Emmanuel Adebayor — the striker previously discarded by both City and Arsenal — is surely more talented than any forward that the Premier League’s leading two currently have at their disposal.
Consequently, it is no surprise that City remain many people’s favourites to lift the trophy in May, as when it comes to demonstrating the type of clinical finishing often required to break down the weaker but defensively-sound sides, themselves and Liverpool look a class apart.
5. Get well soon Paul McShane
Even his fiercest critics will surely have felt sympathy for Paul McShane on Tuesday night.
The much-maligned Irish international was taken off with what looked a bad ankle injury in the 12th minute against Southampton.
Having been a first-team regular in the Hull team that won promotion to the Championship despite being spoken of in dismissive and vitriolic terms by some Irish followers, he has fought valiantly to earn a place in their Premier League side — a battle he appeared to be winning before his latest setback.
Granted, the Wicklow-born player is far from the most talented defender that this country has ever produced, but few would doubt his commitment, as is obvious from the red face he frequently departs the field with — an attitude that should not be overlooked in a footballing era permeated with apathetic millionaires.
Furthermore, this moment of misfortune will at least hopefully remind his cruellest detractors that he is a human being first and foremost, and deserves to be thought of and treated as such.
