The Premier League heads into its first international break after three weeks of pulsating football.
England’s top division is back in the saddle, delivering thrills, spills and controversy. Manchester United sit alone at the top as the only club to win three out of three; but of the four clubs behind them on seven points merely two of them are members of the established “top six.”Meanwhile at the bottom of the table West Ham, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth remain pointless whilst Arsenal, just above them in 16th, are trying to show Barcelona just what a real crisis looks like.
It’s been exciting for the teams so far, but what about the players?
Who has most impressed us? Who has been disappointing? Read on and find out our top five for each category!
Best: Paul Pogba
Who would have ever thought that just one year after breaking the world record to sign for Manchester United, Paul Pogba would end up looking cheap? The inflation in the transfer market has rendered Pogba a bargain by comparison, especially given his performances on the field.
Pogba has been electric for United. The
beating heart of everything good they’re doing. He’s facilitating his
team-mates, finding them in key attacking areas and linking with his
forwards and defenders. Liberated by Mourinho’s tactics, Pogba is fast
becoming the best player in the league.
Disappointing: Harry Kane
Harry Kane doesn’t score in August has been a
meme for a while but there’s such an absurd truth to it you can’t help
but think at this point it’ll become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
England’s main marksman just can’t seem to
find the target no matter how many wide-open looks he gets at it.
Moreover his horror tackle on Florian Lejeune against Newcastle should
have resulted in a red card.
Best: Nemanja Matic
Obviously Henrikh Mkhitaryan has got five assists so far this season (more than double anyone else) and certainly deserves praise for his play, the reason he has been so impactful is largely because of Paul Pogba’s dynamic displays.
And the reason for Paul Pogba’s displays is
because Nemanja Matic has come in and dominated midfield from the
get-go. The Serb is ground zero for Manchester United’s awesome
attacking play this season. His defensive solidity unleashes the
attackers ahead of him.
Disappointing: Danny Welbeck
Everyone loves Danny Welbeck but at this point
that’s mostly because he keeps on making Arsenal fans feel miserable.
Welbz as he’s affectionately known has been his very worst self so far
this season, ballooning the ball off his shins like it and his legs were
opposing magnets, running down blind alleys and finishing like a
defender trying to clear the ball.
While Alexis Sánchez is fighting to leave,
Wenger’s continued selection of Welbeck is justification that the
Chilean is absolutely justified in doing whatever it takes to get the
hell away from Arsenal.
Best: Sadio Mane
With Coutinho constantly “hours away” from
signing for Barcelona and this expectation giving him all manner of back
problems, Liverpool have needed someone to step up and be their hero.
Luckily for them, Sadio Mané has been more than up to the task.
The Senegalese international has been
blisteringly good for the Reds, creating, scoring and dribbling with
great joy. Liverpool’s M-F-S front-three are powered by Mané’s thrust
and are so thrilling to watch that the Reds need not fear losing their
Brazilian no. 10.
Disappointing: Nacho Monreal
Playing a left-back in the middle of a back three is a pretty silly thing to do. Now, it would be easy to blame Arsene Wenger here (and the Frenchman is surely the embodiment of the “this is fine” meme) but he’s not a player so poor Nacho is going to have to cop it for his coach.
Monreal has been horrendous, constantly
overwhelmed and so utterly failing to organise the defence that Arsenal
only conceding one goal to Stoke is actually the high-point of his
season.
Best: Jonas Lossl
There are two teams in the Premier League that have yet to concede a goal through three weeks of play: Manchester United, and Huddersfield Town. A large reason why The Terriers have that defensive record is their goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.
The 6’5 Dane has been sublime, making 10 saves
for Huddersfield. Only four keepers have more (Wayne Hennessy with 14,
then Jordan Pickford, Kasper Schmeichel and Asmir Begovic with 11) and
they have conceded six, three, six and four goals to Lossl’s zero.
Disappointing: Pablo Zabaleta
Signed as the proverbial “old head” to bring
“title winning experience” to a “hungry” club that wanted to be “moving
on up” – Pablo Zabaleta has instead probably been the second-worst
player in the league (Welbeck has been unreal) and has been utterly torn
to pieces by any and every player who has opposed him.
Alright, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial
are speedsters, but when you make Christian Atsu look like Maradona
then something has gone terribly wrong.
Best: Alvaro Morata
Chelsea’s new signing was obviously not their
first-choice (and judging by that red tint in his hair they weren’t his
either) but this signing has worked out for the best really. Morata is a
magnificent all-around striker and totally suits Chelsea’s style of
play.
His appearance off the bench (one goal, one
assist) nearly salvaged Chelsea’s inexplicable 0-3 half-time scoreline
against Burnley, he ran Spurs’ centre-backs ragged at Wembley and then
got another goal and assist to see the Champions past Everton.
Disappointing: Gary Cahill
When you inherit the Captain’s armband from John Terry, the biggest of all big men, the headest of all honchos, the toppest of all top players and lads, then you had better deliver. You had better be a big boss at the back in both a figurative and literal sense. The Chelsea defence better revolve around you and you better make at least one diving headed interception.
Well, to this point Gary Cahill has played
terribly for 14 minutes against Burnley and then been sent off for a
horror tackle, missing the two games where Chelsea actually played
well. Gary when people asked you to emulate John Terry they meant the
2004-2012 (and then also 2014/15) world-class bit, not the utterly
useless ambling statue bit.
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