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Stephen Ireland up against Norwich's Alex Tettey today. Steve Paston
after thoughts

Ireland shows why he's not a top player and talking points from today's Premier League

We also discuss Man United’s issues up front and a first Premier League win for Bournemouth.

Ireland still less than reliable

ONCE CONSIDERED A hugely promising midfielder, Stephen Ireland’s career has stalled considerably in recent times.

Since what is undoubtedly still his best season where he managed nine goals in 35 appearances in the 2008-09 campaign for Man City, he has never looked fully settled anywhere.

A mixture of injuries and loss of form has seen him make over 20 appearances in just three of the last seven seasons (excluding this year) since his most memorable campaign, with the 28-year-old often having to be content with an ‘impact sub’ role at best of late.

And despite coming on to change the game with an influential display against Spurs last week, Ireland again found himself on the bench today as Norwich hosted Stoke.

A player of Ireland’s ability is surely good enough to be playing week in week out for Stoke, but one incident towards the end of today’s game hinted at why this isn’t the case.

After being introduced as a substitute in the 57th minute of this afternoon’s match, the Cork native completely let opponent Bradley Johnson go amid a stoppage time free-kick, but fortunately for Stoke, the substitute wasted a great chance.

So while Ireland, at times, is capable of winning his team the game single-handedly, he is perhaps prone to losing it for them too on occasion.

- Paul Fennessy 

Wilson gets Bournemouth up and running

Like many, we were intrigued to see how Bournemouth would fare on the club’s first season mixing it with the Premier League big boys.

The Cherries had no points to show before today after suffering 1-0 defeats to Aston Villa and Liverpool but manager Eddie Howe will have been encouraged with what he saw in those games, despite not recording a single goal in 180 minutes.

That all changed at the Boleyn Ground this afternoon, however, as last season’s top scorer (with 23 goals) Callum Wilson bagged his first top flight hat-trick in a thrilling 4-3 victory over West Ham.

If the former England U21 striker can complement Bournemouth’s attractive, passing style of play by finding the back of the net on a regular basis it will go some way to ensuring their status in the division for next season.

- Ben Blake 

Man United lack finishing touch

On paper at least, Manchester United’s start to the season had been pretty flawless going into the early kick-off at home to Newcastle United. It was hard to argue with two wins from two in the league, with new goalkeeper Sergio Romero keeping clean sheets on both occasions, and a 3-1 win in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.

He may not have brought in a big money centre-half, yet, and David de Gea’s future remains up in the air but it is in attack that Louis van Gaal appears to have his biggest problem.

United bossed possession from early on (70% to 30% over the 90 minutes) against a defensively-disciplined Steve McClaren side, but were unable to convert one of the 20 shots they clocked up.

After the final whistle, Van Gaal insisted he is happy with his striking options but with Wayne Rooney badly out of form and a lack of pace in attack, surely he plans dip into the transfer market before the window shuts on 1 September.

- Ben Blake 

Pardew has strength in depth

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Crystal Palace v Aston Villa - Selhurst Park Jonathan Brady Jonathan Brady

There’s an eye-catching, solid base to this Crystal Palace side. There may not be the highest quality in each position but together, there’s plenty of resilience and a sprinkling of creativity. Alan Pardew made a number of summer signings – Yohan Cabaye obviously the most high-profile – and the depth the team has as a result can only be a good thing.

Mile Jedinak has been a consistently impressive top-flight performer but has found himself on the bench since the season started. It’s a good problem for the manager to have and today, the opportunity to change things was key to Palace getting a result. At half-time against Aston Villa, Glenn Murray and Wilfried Zaha were both taken off, Pardew clearly unhappy with the Palace attack.

He had the luxury of switching things and though Dwight Gayle and Jordan Mutch weren’t directly involved in their side’s two second-half goals, their presence gave Villa something different to worry about. Inside the last 10 minutes, Jedinak was introduced and shortly after, Bakary Sako came up trumps with the winner.

It’s now two wins from their first three games and Palace pushed Arsenal last weekend before succumbing to defeat. Teams won’t enjoy facing the Eagles this term and they could surprise a few people.

- Eoin O’Callaghan 

Leicester continue to defy doubters

They say the Premier League table ‘never lies,’ but clearly that cliché doesn’t apply after three games.

That said, while Leicester may be in a somewhat false position, after going top of the table following their 1-1 draw with Spurs today, the scale of their achievements in recent times should not be underestimated.

Furthermore, following their impressive escape from relegation last season, many critics questioned whether they could cope with one significant change at the club, as Claudio Ranieri replaced Nigel Pearson in the summer.

Yet ‘the Tinkerman’ has steered them to an unbeaten start, and they showed evidence of their trademark resolve today, as Riyad Mahrez’s fourth goal of the season drew the Foxes level just 90 seconds after Dele Alli had put Spurs ahead in the final 10 minutes.

And one stat in particular highlights the remarkable recent form of Leicester — since 1 April, they have earned 29 Premier League points, which is more than any other top-flight side has achieved in the same period.

- Paul Fennessy

Paul Scholes had no words after Van Gaal claimed he was satisfied with Man United performance

Bournemouth secure first points of the season after 7-goal thriller

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