adminLONDON. – The opening weekend of the Barclays English Premier League soccer season gave us a first look at the title contenders in competitive action.
There were mixed fortunes for the leading five, with Manchester United and Liverpool scraping wins, Chelsea and Arsenal coming unstuck, and Manchester City looking the most impressive.
Here’s what we learned, both the positives and negatives, from their first matches.
CHELSEA (drew 2-2 at home to Swansea City)
The champions would have wanted a statement performance at Stamford Bridge to prove they had no intention of surrendering their crown.
But it all went pear-shaped, with the Blues hanging on to a point after Thibaut Courtois was sent off.
Chelsea’s title success last season was built on their impenetrable and assured defensive line, but the same personnel looked vulnerable to Swansea’s pace, with the visitors enjoying many more chances.
Indeed, no side has enjoyed more than Swansea’s 10 shots on target at Chelsea since 2003.
John Terry lacked his usual authority, his positioning suspect when Swansea played through balls, and Jefferson Montero caused problems for Branislav Ivanovic out wide.
It doesn’t mean that a back line that conceded just 32 goals last season is suddenly sub-standard, but it may have Jose Mourinho upping his bid for Everton’s John Stones this week.
There was also an unusual sluggishness about Chelsea going forward and they seemed to lack the rampant creativity that proved so effective last season.
Both goals carried an element of good fortune and Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was less busy than Courtois, and his replacement Asmir Begovic at the opposite end.
Eden Hazard was the league’s best player last season but he had an off-afternoon, likewise Oscar. And up front, it was hardly a vote of confidence for Radamel Falcao that a half-fit Diego Costa was preferred to him.
When Falcao did come off the bench with six minutes remaining, he lacked sharpness and his one scuffed shot towards goal was the mark of a striker who hasn’t scored since January.
On the plus side, Chelsea did manage to play with 10 men for most of the second half following Courtois’ contentious dismissal and still came away with a point.
Next three: Sunday Manchester City (A); August 23 West Brom (A); August 29 Crystal Palace (H).
MANCHESTER UNITED (won 1-0 at home to Tottenham)
United started their campaign with a narrow win over Spurs, the winning (own) goal coming courtesy of defender Kyle Walker midway through the first half.
It was an unconvincing performance from Louis van Gaal’s team, with plenty of evidence that the new signings haven’t yet gelled together.
With such attacking verve at their disposal, it was shocking that United didn’t have a shot on target until the 65th minute at Old Trafford.
And they were grateful to the sharp reflexes of goalkeeper Sergio Romero to escape with an opening-day win.
The presence of David de Gea in the stands confirmed what we already knew – Van Gaal has put his foot down and won’t tolerate any wantaway stars. With Romero capable despite early wobbles, the way back for the Spaniard looks harder than ever.
One vast improvement on this time last season is in defence, with Chris Smalling looking the part again. He contained Harry Kane superbly and therefore nullified Tottenham’s main scoring threat.
And Matteo Darmian is clearly a wing-back in Van Gaal’s image, performing excellently on his competitive debut both in his defensive responsibilities and bombing forward. United suddenly have another attacking option.
Other players were less impressive going forward – their passing was ponderous and sideways, lacking a cutting edge for the most part. Spurs won the midfield battle for spells in the first half.
Morgan Schneiderlin’s passing was neat and tidy, while Juan Mata was his usual creative self, but Memphis Depay and Wayne Rooney showed few signs of a blossoming partnership.
It looks like Depay has been entrusted with being United’s main attacking threat but he played much of the game with his back to goal, unable to show the blistering pace that earned him a move to Old Trafford.
Next three: Friday Aston Villa (A); August 18 Club Brugge (H) Champions League; August 22 Newcastle United (H).
ARSENAL (lost 2-0 at home to West Ham)
After a very positive pre-season that had Arsenal fans dreaming of the title, they were brought crashing back down to earth by West Ham.
New goalkeeper Petr Cech was at fault for West Ham’s opening goal and clearly doesn’t quite have that all-important understanding with his defence yet.
Cech is a class act and an excellent signing and much of the focus on the training ground this week will be on communication and general getting to know each other.
The situation in the game meant Alexis Sanchez, clearly not up to full speed after his late return from the Copa America, was thrown on.
Although he was unable to make an impact this time, looking leggy and jaded, this result did underline Arsenal’s reliance on him.
Arsene Wenger also shifted Santi Cazorla wide on the left to accommodate Aaron Ramsey, but taking such a creative player out of his favoured position backfired.
Cazorla actually returned good stats from the game, playing 76 passes at 93,4 per cent accuracy, but if they’re not in the right area, this impact is negated.
Eventually, Wenger took the hint and restored Cazorla to a more central station and Arsenal improved.
Olivier Giroud toiled alone up front but just wasn’t getting the service, forced to drop back time after time to try and win the ball.
He looked isolated and the failure to score suggests Wenger will go against previous assertions and enter the transfer market for a new forward, potentially Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema.
The good news is, plenty of time remains in the transfer window to strengthen the attack.
Next three: Sunday Crystal Palace (A); August 24 Liverpool (H); August 29 Newcastle United (A).
MANCHESTER CITY (won 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion)
Manchester City produced the most impressive performance of the weekend, sweeping aside West Brom to send out a clear message that they will be challenging for the title this season.
There really wasn’t anything negative from their performance at The Hawthorns and City fans will be buzzing.
Most encouraging was the clear evidence that Yaya Toure has another storming season in him. Twelve months ago it looked like the talismanic midfielder could be on his way, or at least that his powers were fading.
But the 32-year-old was simply excellent – comparable with his performances in City’s last title-winning campaign and capped with a wonderful top corner goal. This bodes well for the season ahead.
Likewise man of the match, David Silva, whose genius was much in evidence with 95 passes and an accuracy of 94,7 per cent, an assist and quite possibly a goal after Toure’s shot for the first trickled in off him and a defender.
His class is well known, but Silva has the potential to progress further and become the best player in the Premier League. There’s no reason why he can’t and he’ll be integral to a title challenge in any case.
On his competitive debut, Raheem Sterling also performed well. The £49m signing was lively and enjoyed the odd burst of pace in dangerous positions but his tame, side-foot finishing let him down.
Still, Manuel Pellegrini and the City support will have seen plenty to encourage them with 37 matches yet to come and a Champions League campaign.
While West Brom aren’t the strongest adversary, the central defensive partnership of Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala looked solid.
Mangala was often criticised last season and rightly so but with lessons learned and the formidable Kompany beside him, he could yet flourish.
This was a fine performance but we’ll know much more after Sunday’s match with Chelsea.
Next three Sunday: Chelsea (H); August 23 Everton (A); August 29 Watford (H).
LIVERPOOL (won 1-0 at Stoke City)
A late stunner from Philippe Coutinho ensured a winning start for Liverpool and helped them forget about the 6-1 humbling doled out by Stoke City on the final day of last season.
The Brazilian proved he is world class not only with the goal but by being Liverpool’s best player by a comfortable margin. – Mailonline.
Online Reporter