Weekend Review: Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, West Ham, Manchester United, Newcastle, Chelsea, Manchester City
The top 12 are separated by 3 points, the top 4 are on 10 points and theoretically speaking, Manchester United are only, at most, 5 games off the pace while Chelsea are 3 points off.
However, Liverpool are top on goal difference (courtesy of Derby) followed by Arsenal and then Everton, and for these teams, it’s an excellent start and one that they need to keep up.
A roundup of the weekend’s games then, plus the current league table.
Bolton 1-2 Everton
Everton have made an excellent start to the season and the recruitments of Yakubu and Gravesen have given the team a more rounded look, especially the ability to break through difficult defences for goals and to control games when they are not going Everton’s way.
Bolton did well but ultimately this tie could have gone either way – Bolton don’t have enough quality running through the side to win home games convincingly. Alonso has looked good though, but that, and 19th spot after the first 5 games, is not enough.
Paul Robinson gets caught off his line far too much and far too regularly to be picked for a team like Tottenham, let alone England. Tottenham started off well and with a better keeper could easily have won this 4-1 or 3-2 instead of coming out with a draw against Fulham. Martin Jol complained about not being clinical enough but it was more than that – 3 goals are enough to win the game if you defend properly.
Fulham under Lawrie Sanchez are developing a fighting reputation this season and it was more of the same on Saturday, with Fulham refusing to roll over and die after Tottenham’s long spell of supremacy. 4 points from 5 games don’t look much, but they look capable of pulling away from the likes of Birmingham at the bottom of the table – don’t expect miracles but Fulham will survive this season if they keep fighting like this.
Liverpool 6-0 Derby
What you would politely call a thrashing (not a massacre – not enough goals). Liverpool are now top of the pile, with a game in hand to Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United and ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. Life is good for Rafa’s men, and with their first ‘good’ start of the season (should be 12 points instead of 10, mind you) under Rafa Benitez, Liverpool now have a good shot at the title.
Derby are pathetic. Al this point it’s not just the lack of ability but the lack of discipline and tactical errors that are making everyone feel sorry for them. Will they get 19 points? May not…
Middlesbrough 2-0 Birmingham
The goals dried up for Birmingham and after that they were bound to crash – Boro had an easy game and won without pushing themselves too hard.
Newcastle 1-0 Wigan
Wigan made Newcastle fight hard but the Geordies stuck to their task and Owen’s late goal sealed the home game and leave Newcastle comfortably perched at 6th spot with 8 points. With a game in hand to both Manchester City and Everton (their closest rivals ahead in the points table), Newcastle have to build on their decent start and go after their European spot this season, but to make it happen they can’t make home games as hard as they did on Saturday.
Not surprised – Reading lose when they are expected to win and West Ham turn up to play when everyone expects them to lose badly. 3-0 was the right result for West Ham’s efforts on the pitch, and it remains to be seen whether Reading’s current form is just a slump or symptomatic of a serious problem. Steve Coppell should be able to fix things and pull Reading out of the bottom 3, but it’s Reading’s mental strength that’s let them down recently.
Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland
Not impressed, and the fact that it took Louis Saha to rescue the team speaks volumes about what the team lacks and where Manchester United went wrong in their summer transfers.
Sunderland are doing well but these aren’t the games they are going to win – they need to control and finish off games against the likes of Brum, Reading, West Ham and Fulham.
Arsenal 3-1 Portsmouth
A comfortable home win for Arsenal, and finally a good start to the season for the Gunners as well. Portsmouth were never going to win this one, not with their inability to defend for long periods of time. Arsenal are more incisive this season, although if you see last year as a bit of an aberration it’s more of a course correction as opposed to a massive improvement – Arsenal still pass around the ball way too much.
No luck for Portsmouth at the start of this season, but they have a good shout at Europe if they pick their game up and stop the leaks in their defence.
Blackburn 1-0 Manchester City
At the start of the season, when Manchester City were flying high, I said that their real test would come playing the likes of Blackburn to test how the new-look side would perform against seasoned professionals. They’ve failed this hurdle, but Manchester City have also shown enough promise in the last 5 games to suggest that they’re on the right path and if things fall their way, a top-10 finish is quite possible.
Blackburn were steady as ever – their weakness is in central midfield but Manchester City never had the drive to capitalise on it and Blackburn are again off to a steady start to the season.
Aston Villa 2-0 Chelsea
Everyone’s favourite result of the season? Aston Villa executed their plan to perfection and Chelsea are playing worse this season than they were at the same time last season. One result won’t change too much though and Chelsea have the break to get their problems sorted out. Bit by bit other teams and managers are coming to terms with Chelsea’s style of play and Villa showed yesterday that discipline is enough to beat Mourinho’s Chelsea.
League Table – 2nd September 2007
Catch the latest premier league table here.
how come fernando torres does not appear in your top scorers. Didn’t he score against chelsea and a double against derby?
liverpool look like the team to beat at this early stage and..arsenal will quietly mount a serious title challenge,united’s attacking play looks hopeless and i hope it improves once saha and ronnie comes back..villa,blackburn,everton.all look very strong..
good win for arsenal..fantastic! i saw the match and thought all the goals were just weird, including kanu’s goal but overall i think pompey will go far this season. Oh my days WATCH OUT FOR UTAKA!!!!!!!!
villa seem to know how to handle chelsea..(it might be their bogey ground) expect chelsea to bounce back!
with the gunners being incisive this season i would like to see liverpool v arsenal what a game it would be many goals i guess!
I’m lookin forward to LFC vs Arsenal too. Both sides have gotten off to a great start (although they both could have been on 12 points instead of 10 each!)
Great game by Arsenal! I just couldn’t believe Rosicky’s goal! Hope he shows more of this spectacular form. Fabregas is fabulous as usual & i’m starting to believe the propaganda of how good the team is moulding together to form a cohesive fighting unit. I think the game against Spurs could be the litmus test as to how our side will handle the pressure of being possible champions again. Will be DEFINITELY looking forward to that match (fingers crossed for Arsenal!) Just wish RVP starts firing again. Once he does the whole team could be unstoppable!
from fridays prediction i got 6/10 who would have thought chelsea would lose. anyway i still expect more points to be dropped this season by top teams and i agree with many here that teams to wwathc will be liverpool and arsenal but there greatest tests will come late in the year when teams will be playing for more than one trophie that is F.A,league cup and champions league. i dont fancy chelsea to win anything this season they are way below par.
man utd needs rooney and ronaldo back.
richard – it’s updated now.
was surprised at the chelsea and tottenham results (or lack thereof)..
How fantastic was that Fulham draw. I was pacing around my living room the last 20 minutes of the match. Tottenham is my team, but my nationalist tendencies are seeping out. I find my self thrilled with Dempsey’s performance and Bocanegra’s tenacity. He made a bad mistake Saturday in that game, but it at least didn’t lead to a goal. I hope he turns out to be the captain in future matches. Fulham should be able to stay clear of the relegation zone this year. Birm City and Derby are awful. It’s a shame Shefield United and Charlton Athletic lost a spot to Derby and Birm City. Hell, even Watford is playing better than those two. I do think Sunderland will stay up. We’ll only have a relegation battle for one spot this year at 18th in the table.
Ahmed – I like your game review format. The only thing I would add is a link to a news story for each game. I love the site.
general125 – it’s hard to please readers when you’re criticising everyone, so thank you.
The news links to match reports are a must, I agree. Will rectify this on the next prem weekend.
If there is a word to describe Arsenal right now the only word that comes to my mind is fantastic
they are very unlucky not to have 12 points (then again so are we 
) and they are looking sharp fresh and like title contenders!!!
Asked for my own team Liverpool well boys have a look its the best Liverpool squad ive ever see in my Life (im 15
) and no longer a one man team very impressed can’t wait for LIVERPOOL VS ARSENAL either 
No doubt United and Chelsea will bounce straight and put pressure on us but one things for sure….. Its gonna be a interesting season
Good weekend for Liverpool was very happy with the result, though i’d have to agree with Rafa that we shouldn’t get carried away, Derby were pretty awful!
Arsenal have started well and i look forward to their next meeting with Liverpool. Portsmouth were pretty awful defensively though and like with the Blackburn game i can see them struggling against a more physical team. That said if the rest of the team get on the same wavelength as Fabregas they could score against anyone!
I’d love to write Man U and Chelsea off but its still early days. Chelsea need to improve drastically as they’ve far from their best and with the African Cup of Nations coming up they will probably struggle in the new year with the loss of a number of keys players.
Man U need to hope that Saha stays fit, as you said Ahmed Man U, look to have stumbled a bit in the transfer market by leaving themselves a bit short on the striker front.
Tevez was awful? but remember he does hve the talent but i have to admit i imagined the season quite differnetly than this
The premieship really gets to you sometimes don’t it? won bad result one bad performance and people say you’re done finished the only way to avoid that empty feeling inside is to stay top every match witch is really hard
Ahmed, I like the way you report hence have been regular to this website. But in this comment you have got it all wrong or wish that this should be the way things should be.
“Everyone’s favorite result of the season? Aston Villa executed their plan to perfection and Chelsea are playing worse this season than they were at the same time last season.”
Well that is biased isn’t it? To start with Aston Villa scored against the run of the play and through a set piece so don’t tell me that they planned the move all night and then played it to perfection on the pitch. We had more shots on goal than Villa will have the entire season.
“Bit by bit other teams and managers are coming to terms with Chelsea’s style of play and Villa showed yesterday that discipline is enough to beat Mourinho’s Chelsea.”—–
—–
How are other teams and managers able to understand out style of play when we ourselves are changing the way we play the game? We are transforming our game and that would take time. We are trying to play a more attractive style of football and that does not happen in an instant.
“Discipline is enough to beat Chelsea”– Well Ahmed you can tout this analysis to other BPL managers and dream of making millions.
Roman has given express instructions that he wants to Chelsea to play with flair. Now Mourinho can play Villa any given day and get a result by playing the way we used to. But in that case his resume will read “Cannot play attractive football– Can only grind out results”. He will have no clubs asking for him in future coz the fans there would want the games to be exciting or they would simply buy tickets to their last game to see Mourinho lift the trophy coz Mourinho can deliver.
If you write that Chelsea got their set pieces horribly wrong, SWP played selfish and wanted glory for himself, it was a mistake to play Makalele, Mikel and Essein together. Those points every Chelsea fan would agree to and look forward to your articles coz they are the facts regardless of which club you support.
Winning by playing better is more deserved than winning coz the other team slipped up. You have the brains to be objective but lack the intention.
Also with big teams a loss hardly becomes a trend so expect to see a different Cheslea after internationals break.
Early days, yes, but Arsenal and Liverpool looked fantastic. Good to see Chelsea lose too, Drogba sure looks hopeless without Sheva to draw all the defenders. Liverpool on the other hand looks fantastic. What a squad they have. As for Arsenal, we look sharp and our forwards have not yet showed their full potential. Looks like RVP is still recovering and cant wait for him to go full blast……
early days yes, but i want 2 point out something… abramovich has made the wrong choice… i shudder only 2 think want chelsea would have been with benitez instead of morinho at its head. they would have won 3 or 4 more cups… i’m not complaining though… benitez is ours 2 keep. he does not only have intense footballing mind but he also knows how 2 handle money( does not buy likes of veron, scott parker, reyes, etc..)
n arsenal are looking the deal… people who thought them finished have 2 eat their pride( me included) . of course man utd n chelsea will bounce back but the later the better.
blackburn, newcastle, city, n everton r 2 be watched intently…
Yeh i agree with you iqnadirshah Benitez sure knows how to build a squad with the right money. Can’t wait for stevie to come back!!! I wacth Torres in la liga and for spain a good lot of times…… though i have to say he is far better for Liverpool.
Fabragaes (sorry can’t spell his name
) has really opened up too. Great player!!!
I think Saha is uniteds best striker at the moment and they need him fit
avijersey
I think you will find that Ahmed was right, Villa 2 v 0 Chelsea is everyone’s favourite result of the season so far and thoroughly deserved.
Unless you support Chelsea of course.
With the incredible subs spent on the Chelsea team the total lack of creativity has to be put down to bad management and bad performances, not to “changing our style of play” or whatever. The whole problem is that it’s the same style of play as you have had under Moaninho since he took over… nothing’s changed but it looks a little less effective now.
Ahmed’s review is the same as the real journalists in most papers so either they are ALL wrong or you are a bit one-eyed.
#that should have said ‘incredible sums’, not ’subs’… but the latter is also true.
Defo my favourite result of the season
im glad Liverpool are playing more creative football. Chelsea still stuck with the same old shite!
avijerseyno9 –
I can understand how you feel mate. But i’m sure you could have retaliated better with a jibe about Man Utd’s loss to City & how that was YOUR favourite result of the season. There will be many favourite results for all of us this year – Don’t get mad, get even!
Chelsea losing was everyones favorite result of the year. That’s a fact!!!
Spiral Architect
thanks pal i didnt quote Man City derby loss coz i thought ManU played well in that match and i mentioned it in my comments too and hoped Ahmed would understand what a good game Chelsea had and make a comment befitting the match which he didnt.
As for commenting on him and that rogue Fifth Column i wont stoop as low as them. At least i still ahve faith in JM which they lost in SAF.
Fifth Column; You are contradicting yourslef. In one statement you say we have always lacked creativity and perform badly and later add we are not as effective as we used to be. “I dont understand how could we ever have been effective if never performed.”
What is your qualification Fifth Column. Man!! you summed up Jose in 3 lines!! Incredible. Please tell me was that your analysis or your esteemed opinion.
A 1-0 loss means as many points lost as a 2-0 loss.
Who’s losing faith in SAF?
I have complete trust that he will win us the league again this season (Nevermind the Eufa CL). Those fans that think differently after 2draws and a loss, are idiots.
We started by playing ‘attacking footbal’, but with ‘bad luck’, we could not convert any of our kazillion chances. SAF then employed a strategy of ‘get onto winning ways’. He just need to build up the belief in the guys again. Once we start rolling again, the attacking play + results will come. To those who write ManU (and/or Chelsea) off, good on you. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Avi
Try re-reading.
It says that Chelsea have indeed been playing the same system under Mourinho all the time which includes lack of creativity or excitement.
However, it also says that in the past the system was effective and now it is not.
This is not a contradiction in any way. Arsenal won the title that way under George Graham by dull 1v0 wins every week hence the moniker of “boring boring Arsenal” even now at many grounds even though they haven’t played that way for years and years.
Chelsea have been the same under Mourinho. Dull but consistent. This season they have remained dull but been less effective and this came to a head at Villa Park.
Simple. Understand now?
Karl, i agree with you that SAF can be banked upon to deliver the results. In his support i had previously commented as to how he has found a perfect role for every player on pitch and its just a matter of time before ManU is in at 1 or 2 position.
Fifth Column i appreciate your efforts in explaining to me your stupid theory again. The very fact that you could come up with 2 cooked up factors like(bad managament/lack of creativity) responsible for Chelea’s failure, leaves no room for discussion. Dig deeper and try and find responsible factors. If you want to sate your ego its OK but if you want an answer think. Think how did Martin O’Neill’s side come away with 3 points when they had gifted Chelsea (a side that perfromed badly) 60% possession in the game. We had some 20 odd shots on goal and 15 odd corners. Did we perform badly overall i surely dont think so.
I requested Ahmed to focus on the specifics of our loss and not make vague statements like “Chelsea are playing worse than the last season and discipline is enough to beat Chelsea”.
We got results against two teams that you drew with, so we are not playing worse, are we?
And when does ever any side play without discipline on the pitch in English game, you will be murdered, over again for it. That Discipline is enough to beat Chelsea in non-sense.
Those were vague comments to make.
And here you are again making even more foolish statements.
You ask me “Simple. Understand now?”.
I dont care to. Keep skimming the surface.
“We got results against two teams that you drew with”
What are you talking about? Do you think I support Man Utd? I don’t support any of the top 4. I dislike Man Utd as much as I dislike Chelsea… well, almost.
In any case, if I support Man Utd, Bolton or Accrington Stanley it makes no difference about my opinion on Chelsea does it. If you are resorting to “We got results against two teams that you drew with” then you are just embaressing yourself, frankly.
Possession is meaningless, shots are meaningless if you do not make the keeper work. Carson had one save to make and that wasn’t very difficult.
Anyhow, I will leave you in your dreamworld where Chelsea were unlucky and anyone who disagrees with you must support Man Utd. Must mean every journalist in every paper who wrote an article covering the Villa Chelsea game supports Man Utd eh? Damn these conspiracies.
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