Updated at 17.31
1. United and Liverpool lack spontaneity
IN A RECENT podcast with football journalist Graham Hunter, ex-Tottenham and Marseille star Chris Waddle lamented the lack of mavericks in the Premier League currently.
It was consequently hard to escape Waddle’s comments while watching Super Sunday yesterday, and in particular, the dull Manchester derby and the similarly underwhelming Liverpool-Southampton encounter.
Against a resolute City side who looked more than content with the draw they ultimately earned, United’s creative players such as Juan Mata were rendered ineffectual for much of the contest, with teenager Anthony Martial again the one bright spark in a largely disappointing display
Both United and Liverpool looked over-coached at times, with players lacking the ingenuity to do anything out of the ordinary.
For instance, at Old Trafford yesterday, when a United player received the ball in between their opponents’ defence and midfield, he would automatically pass it out to the winger, without even looking up to see what was in front of him.
Similarly, Liverpool all too often looked devoid of inspiration, with the enthusiasm that greeted Klopp’s first home league game in charge swiftly turning to a deafening silence, as Anfield watched their side toil away for 90 minutes with little reward.
There are occasional anomalies, of course, such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, but on the whole, perhaps Waddle is right — players tend to be far too much in thrall to the system currently.
2. Referee should be commended for bravery
One decision in Sunday’s north-east derby completely changed the course of the game at the Stadium of Light.
With the Magpies having controlled the match up to that point, a contentious decision went Sunderland’s way on the stroke of half-time. Fabricio Coloccini was sent off for effectively pushing Steven Fletcher out of the way, with the hosts being awarded a penalty to boot.
Adam Johnson subsequently scored the penalty, and Sunderland ended up winning 3-0, with Magpies boss Steve McClaren afterwards angrily disputing the call.
On the one hand, it’s easy to empathise with the Newcastle manager’s frustration. The penalty decision was the type of call that referees would ignore nine out of 10 times.
Yet it was undoubtedly the right decision – Coloccini clearly pushes his man out of the way as Ireland international Rob Elliot attempts to gather the ball. And while the referee giving it was unfortunate for Newcastle in a sense, official Robert Madley should be commended for having the bravery to make the call in the first place.
If more referees clamped down on defenders’ illegal challenges instead of routinely ignoring them, then decisions such as the Coloccini one yesterday would hardly provoke such controversy.
3. Kane looks back to his best
With one goal in 10 Premier League appearances before Sunday, Tottenham’s Harry Kane had started his season in distinctly underwhelming fashion.
Yet few critics ever thought Kane would be a one-season wonder, and against Bournemouth yesterday, the England international looked back to his best with a well-taken hat-trick in Spurs’ emphatic 5-1 victory.
Kane was rewarded for his display, with manager Mauricio Pochettino giving the 22-year-old striker a break from training as a result.
And Pochettino will want to ensure Kane gets all the rest and relaxation he needs over the coming months — Spurs are just three points behind Man United and well in the race for a Champions League spot, but have no serious alternatives to the England striker, and lack the kind of depth up front that some of their rivals enjoy.
Consequently, Tottenham fans will probably be hoping rumours linking the club with a January move for Leicester’s free-scoring Jamie Vardy — who managed to find the net for the seventh consecutive Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Saturday — turn out to be true.
4. Is this season Arsenal’s best chance to win the title?
Arsenal secured another hard-fought win to beat Everton 2-1 on Saturday evening, with goals from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny meaning they went top of the league (for one day at least) for the first time since February 2014.
The Gunners have so often threatened to sustain a title challenge, since the last time they triumphed — the famous 2003-04 campaign when they went the whole league season unbeaten.
Yet invariably, when the pressure intensifies, Arsenal tend to crack, with a lack of solidity at the back often undermining their peerless attacking flair.
But this season looks like being Arsene Wenger’s best chance in a long time of claiming domestic silverware — Chelsea and Liverpool both look out of sorts and are unlikely to challenge, while the Londoners won’t have seen too much to be fearful of in Sunday’s Manchester derby. Will they revert to type or finally take advantage of others’ weaknesses?
5. Mourinho becoming a parody of himself
Jose Mourinho has always had a reputation as being somewhat of a troublemaker, yet this season has seen the Portuguese coach reach new lows when it comes to his behaviour on the sideline.
The treatment of Eva Caneiro, to name one oft-cited example, was the kind of conduct that would put a less powerful figure in the game at considerable risk of being fired.
The latest incident, which allegedly saw the coach verbally abuse officials in an attempt to intimidate them, is the latest in a long line of undignified controversies with which the ‘Special One’ has been closely associated over the course of this season.
Mourinho looks an unhappy man right now, and this lack of self-assurance is reflected in Chelsea’s abysmal results of late — six losses in their last 12 Premier League matches is a dramatic fall from grace for last year’s champions.
