I know I say this every time…but seriously, didn’t we just finish the last international break?
As I’ve mentioned before in this space, I really don’t mind international football – quite the opposite, really – but the frequent interruptions of club seasons around the world for meaningless friendlies and unnecessary qualifiers for a tournament that’s two years away make it harder and harder to get excited about. Ugh. I feel like we should all be pulling a William Devane in Bad News Bears: Breaking Training here.
(…That’s an obscure reference, isn’t it? Here’s the scene: estranged father-turned-coach Devane gets all 200,000 fans inside the Houston Astrodome to shout “LET THEM PLAY! LET THEM PLAY!” after the umpires call off the Bears’ little league regional title game against the evil, tobacco-chewing, HGH-using Toros two innings too early. Naturally, the umps give in, and the Bears win the game on an inside-the-park grand slam from pitcher Carmen Ronzanni, played to stunning effect by Scott Baio’s little brother, Jimmy. Can you tell this was an important film in my childhood? Also, unfortunately, I don’t think “LET THEM PLAY!” would work on Sepp Blatter…unless money was changing hands. Where’s Cy Orlansky when you need him?)
Anyway, even if this break has effectively killed off any Barclays Premier League momentum that might’ve been building, it does serve as a good time to get caught up on what’s been happening around the league. Everyone in the EPL has now played eleven matches, and even though that’s a fair sample size – nearly 29% of the season – it still feels like we only have two absolute truths figured out. First…
1) Chelsea are far and away the best team in the league.
This feels like the Blues’ title to lose, a sense that’s lingered since before the season even started. They’re still unbeaten, having won nine and drawn only twice, are four points clear of second-place Southampton (??!?) and – more relevantly – are eight up on holders Manchester City, twelve points clear of Arsenal, and fifteen beyond 2014 runners-up Liverpool. (Yikes.)
The biggest reason for that gap? Enter EPL Absolute Truth #2:
2) Everyone else can win or lose against anyone.
While the Blues have been as good as advertised, the rest of the league has looked incredibly average to this point, making the dominance of Jose Mourinho’s crew stand out even more. At this marker last year, seven teams in the league had earned 20 or more points, at or above the average of 2 points per match that you need if you’re going to compete for a place in Europe.
This season? You have Chelsea on 29 points (2.6 points per match), Southampton at 25 (2.3), Man City on 21 (1.9)…and then you hit West Ham and Swansea at 18 (1.6), not exactly a strong challenge from the pack.
Usual contenders Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool, Everton, and Spurs have all seen their share of ups and (…mostly) downs this season, making things very muddled at the top of the table while opening the door for the likes of Soton, WHU and Swans to be in the mix.
Now… Keep in mind that we still have 27 matches remaining (…that’s 71%, friends), and that more often than not, the clubs with deeper squads and bigger pockets usually rise to the top. Southampton found that out first-hand last year, as they were in 3rd place with 22 points through 11 games, only to fade as the year progressed to finish with 56 points in 8th.
Conversely, eventual champion Man City were in 8th at this point a year ago with 19 points, having lost four of their first eleven, but they quickly righted the ship to reel off an 11-match unbeaten streak from mid-November through February to climb back into the title race.
Hmm…
The more I think about it, maybe we don’t know much of anything yet.
As I failed to reel off an “Additional Time” review for last week, the remainder of this column is going to serve as a joint edition for Matchday 10 and 11. We’ll look at each team’s last two matches and assess how they stand, starting with the bottom of the table and working our way up…
Ultimately Doomed
20. Burnley, 7pts – Matchday 10: 0-3 L at Arsenal ; Matchday 11: 1-0 W vs Hull
After another disappointing loss/hammering two weeks ago at the Emirates, the Clarets finally earned their first win of the campaign thanks to a peach of a goal from Ashley Barnes to nip Hull at Turf Moor and instill some life into their fading hopes of staying up. On the one hand, this could very well be the lift Sean Dyche’s side needed to kick-start their season…but in reality, it’s likely only a fleeting happy footnote in Burnley’s short-lived time in the top flight.
Sorry, gang…but the truth hurts.
Inexplicably Frisky
19. Queens Park Rangers, 8 pts – Matchday 10: 1-2 L at Chelsea ; Matchday 11: 2-2 D vs Man City
Despite still being at the wrong end of the list, the last four weeks have been something of a renaissance at Loftus Road. After an incredibly poor seven-game start to the season that saw the Hoops earn one victory and one draw while being outscored 15-4, they’ve since been competitive against Liverpool and Chelsea, earned a point against (and should’ve beaten) Man City, and demoralized Aston Villa to give Harry Redknapp’s crew legitimate hope moving forward.
Former brick-layer-turned-goal-machine Charlie Austin has four goals in QPR’s last three matches (nearly the amount he had disallowed against City, mind you), and his strike partnership with Bobby Zamora has been the biggest difference in the side’s turnaround. Their Week #12 assignment should be a good one, as they travel to fellow feel-good story Newcastle.
Fading Fast
18. Leicester City, 9 pts – Matchday 10: 0-1 L vs West Brom ; Matchday 11: 2-0 L at Southampton
Woof. I hate to keep coming back to this, but since their insane 5-3 comeback win against Manchester United on Matchday #5, the Foxes have been shut out in five of their last six matches and have only earned a total of one point – a 2-2 draw against Burnley – in that same span. Against the Baggies, it was an Esteban Cambiasso own-goal that did them in, and while their performance at a quality Southampton side was better, two defensive lapses in the late stages gave Saints the win and pushed Leicester into the relegation zone.
It’s far too early to say any game is a must-win, but as Nigel Pearson’s club hosts fellow relegation candidate Sunderland their next time out, you could easily say a point is required to at the very least instill a bit of confidence back in the squad.
17. Crystal Palace, 9 pts – Matchday 10: 1-3 L vs Sunderland ; Matchday 11: 1-0 L at Man United
Honestly, who knows what to expect from this Palace team this season? They lost their opening two matches and looked completely out of their depth after the midnight-hour departure of manager Tony Pulis, vindicating the prediction of every pundit who said they’d struggle to stay up. Following the appointment of former Palace manager Neil Warnock to his old position, the Eagles would rattle off a four-game unbeaten streak that included a 2-3 win at Goodison Park over Everton…only to go right back in the tank of late thanks to losses in four of their last five. The Sunderland defeat was particularly galling – awful, awful defending on set pieces, plus the late sending off of captain Mile Jedinak didn’t help – although they may take solace from a decent display in a losing cause at Old Trafford.
The one thing that might revive their season? How about a visit from Liverpool, who comes to London on Matchday #12? After all, one of Palace’s best moments of last year came in that dramatic 3-3 comeback draw against the Reds at Selhurst; perhaps the return of Brendan Rodgers and Co. might inspire the Eagles to those heights again.
16. Aston Villa, 11 pts – Matchday 10: 1-2 L vs Spurs ; Matchday 11: 0-0 D at West Ham
Turn back with me two months ago to September 14 and the close of Matchday #4. Paul Lambert’s side were on 10 points after beating Liverpool 0-1 at Anfield and had moved up to second in the league; the club had gone 3-0-1 through their first four matches and looked to be the surprise the young season, with optimism on high for the first time in the Midlands in a long time.
Seven games later, and the scene couldn’t be more different. The Villains have earned all of one point since that win on Merseyside, dropping fourteen spots in the table after six straight losses to some of the best (and worst) the league has to offer. The goal Andreas Weimann scored early on against Spurs in Matchday #10 was their first in nearly 550 minutes of action, an incredible run of offensive ineptitude, and while they did earn a much-needed draw on the road against an in-form West Ham side, it might be a short-lived blip, as they host streaking Southampton next.
Christian Benteke still doesn’t look his usual destructive self since returning from a torn Achilles and will miss two more games due to suspension after his sending off against Spurs, and the defense – which was so good to start the year – has been hampered by injuries to Ron Vlaar and others. If Lambert’s regime is to last past Christmas, results need to come, and fast.
Every Week, An Adventure
15. Hull City, 11 pts – Matchday 10: 0-1 L vs Southampton ; Matchday 11: 1-0 L at Burnley
There’s no shame in losing a goal to nil against Southampton.
The same cannot be said of losing a goal to nil at Burnley.
After consecutive draws against Arsenal and Liverpool, Tigers have looked fairly pedestrian in those losses their last two times out. The goals have dried up – remember, this was a team that was averaging two goals a match for the majority of the season – and that’s coincided with a slide down to the wrong end of the table. And while 15th feels low for them, as they say, the points don’t lie. Whether it’s Mo Diame, Nikica Jelavic or Abel Hernandez, someone in that strike force needs to step up, and their next chance to do so will come against a reeling Spurs side at the KC on Matchday #12.
14. Sunderland, 12 pts – Matchday 10: 1-3 W at Palace ; Matchday 11: 1-1 D vs Everton
Instead of the “Fighting Poyets”, Sunderland this season have morphed into the “Trick or Treat Poyets”, combining baffling results (8-0 at Southampton!!?!) and horrendous defensive errors (“mental lapse” doesn’t even begin to describe the trio of blunders from Messuers Vergini, Brown and Mannone this season) with spirited efforts and generally inspired play.
Four points from their last two games have given the Black Cats a renewed sense of optimism, with the resurgence in large part thanks to the goal scoring acumen of Steven Fletcher, who kept up his “brace once every four weeks” routine with a double against Palace, and the free kick prowess of Seb Larsson, who scored a beauty over a non-existent Evertonian wall last weekend to earn a share of the spoils against the Toffees. Don’t worry – they’ll still find a way to finish 17th – but the spark of quality shown in their previous two outings makes their yo-yo form all the more maddening.
13. West Bromwich Albion, 13 pts – Matchday 10: 0-1 W at Leicester Matchday 11: 0-2 L vs Newcastle
Another difficult team to fully comprehend. After a woeful start that saw them shut out in three of their four opening matches, the Baggies have rebounded with a 3-2-2 mark since, with their loss against Newcastle ending a three-game unbeaten run. Saido Berahino has emerged as a constant goal threat, despite being held off the scoresheet in his last two outings, plus Stephan Sessegnon has become more influential in attack of late.
With that said, however, they haven’t looked great since drawing with Man United on Matchday #8; their 2-2 comeback at home to Palace wasn’t exactly a quality-fest, while the win over Leicester was more the fault of the Foxes than any of their own doing. Add in a disappointing performance at the Hawthornes against a suddenly unbeatable Magpie team and looming fixtures at Chelsea and home to Arsenal in their next two matches, and suddenly things don’t look quite as rosy as they did just a few weeks ago.
This team has proven it’s better than the clubs below them, but outside of that United result and an early draw to Southampton, they’ve not had success against any of the top dozen clubs in the league. To be honest, they’ve overachieved a bit this season, so the inevitable settling to 15th/16th position in the weeks to come can’t be too upsetting for Baggies fans.
Disappointing, Confusing, Wandering In The Desert
12. Tottenham, 14 pts – Matchday 10: 1-2 W at Villa ; Matchday 11: 1-2 L vs Stoke
Welcome to the Depressed Persons Anonymous portion of our club-by-club run-down.
After a smash-and-grab 1-0 win against Southampton on Matchday #7, Spurs have dropped three of their last four, with the lone win coming very late indeed on goals from Nacer Chadli in the 84th and Harry Kane in the 90th against ten-man Villa. Other than Chadli’s goal-scoring exploits – his stunner of a volley from an impossibly tight angle against Stoke was the lone bright spot in an otherwise pathetic performance against the Potters – not much is going right for Mauricio Pochettino’s crew. From the outside looking in, it appears the team doesn’t get on with each other, they don’t trust their manager, they don’t like their owner, and they’re not playing well.
Other than that, everything’s going great at White Hart Lane.
11. Liverpool, 14 pts – Matchday 10: 1-0 L at Newcastle ; Matchday 11: 1-2 L vs Chelsea
(…Oh, let’s just get this over with.)
Do you know the last time Liverpool came up with a proper performance? You’d have to go back to August (yes…August) and the 3-0 Reds’ disposal of fellow-depressant Spurs in London to find one that checks all the boxes. In case you’d forgotten, it’s mid-November. Yikes.
Over two-plus months and a lot of uninspired football later, and Brendan Rodgers is still searching for answers as to why things have gone so blah this season. Was last year a fluke? Will things get better once Sturridge returns fit? Is Gerrard’s time of influence coming to a painstakingly abrupt – and possibly messy – end? Can anyone on this team deal with a set piece? And the list doesn’t end there. (Thankfully, that’s all I’m choosing to bring up at the moment.)
The two league losses in the past two weeks weren’t overtly awful – they were pipped by the Magpies on a good goal from Ayoze Perez (…who?) and had a legitimate penalty shout in the one-goal loss to the Blues – but they were still losses, no matter how you sugar coat them. Throw in the PR disaster that was Liverpool’s UCL journey to the Bernabeu in between, and Rodgers might be the only human in the northern hemisphere outside of Sepp Blatter that’s actually looking forward to the upcoming international break.
(…Actually, it’s just Rodgers; the “human” part takes Blatter out of that equation.)
As mentioned above, the Reds get a trip down Bad Memory Lane on Matchday #12 to Selhurst Park in a game they really need to win to resurrect their season. The lone saving grace for them – as well as Spurs and Everton, who we’ll get to in a moment – is that despite their brutal form through the season’s first three months, every one else not named Chelsea is just as sporadic, meaning a top-four spot isn’t out of the equation just yet.
(…Yes, I’m still
stupidly
stubbornly clinging to hope.)
10. Everton, 14 pts – Matchday 10: 0-0 D vs Swansea ; Matchday 11: 1-1 D at Sunderland
Of the Big Three Disappointments this season, Everton have had the best run of form of late, going undefeated in their last four matches and creeping up into the top half for the first time this season. Remember, this squad was flirting with the relegation zone following their paltry return of less than a point per game through Matchday #7, but they seemed to turn a corner with back-to-back three goal performances in wins over Villa and Burnley.
I say “seemed”, because two points from their last two games – especially the 1-1 verdict at the Stadium of Light which was only rescued by a late Leighton Baines penalty – have slowed momentum a bit for Roberto Martinez and Co. Still, with the return of Ross Barkley and Seamus Coleman, they’re as healthy as they’ve been since August, and although their next four matches are tricky – West Ham, at Spurs, Hull and a big one at Man City the first weekend of December – they’re in position to continue climbing…if they can just crash out of the Vader Death March that is the Europa League.
The Default Top Half Team
9. Stoke City, 15 pts – Matchday 10: 2-2 D vs West Ham ; Matchday 11: 1-2 W at Spurs
Look at the Potters! Yes, they allowed a two-goal lead to slip away against the Hammers at home (I don’t have the facts here, but I’m guessing that never happened during the Pulis Era), but they came back with a comprehensive win at Tottenham that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated. In fact, Stoke were virtually the only team on the pitch in the first half at White Hart Lane, and although there were a few nervy moments following the Chadli goal in the 77th, the sending off of Kyle Naughton seven minutes later essentially ended the threat.
With a well-taken goal in that match, it looks like Bojan Krkic – have you heard he used to play for Barcelona, by the way? – is finding his form in his first season in the Prem, plus Mame Diouf and Victor Moses have added a scoring touch to the pace they’ve offered from Day 1.
Looking at the big picture, this is a team that now has wins over Tottenham, Man City and Swansea…but it also boasts losses to Leicester and Sunderland. (Go figure.) For Mark Hughes, the job of turning Stoke football into a more attractive brand seems to be well on its way, although a little more of the club’s old steel might be needed to hang on to leads and to remain in the top half.
Rasputin/Lazarus
8. Newcastle, 16 pts – Matchday 10: 1-0 W vs Liverpool ; Matchday 11: 0-2 W at West Brom
…I’m just as shocked as everyone else.
After going 0-4-3 in their first seven matches of the season, Newcastle have strung together four straight wins in the league – plus an improbable League Cup victory over Man City – and in this season of parity, that’s been enough to catapult them from second-to-last in the table to beyond of the likes of 2013-14 top five finishers Liverpool, Spurs (both of whom they’ve beaten in this run) and Everton.
The difference in this version of Toon and the one that fell all over themselves at the start of the season? First, the defending has much better, as they’ve conceded just once in their last four EPL wins, and second, the goals have started to trickle in from the likely as well as the unlikely. For example, let’s just say 21-year old revelation Ayoze Perez isn’t even on his own Premier League fantasy team right now, and he’s got a goal in each of Newcastle’s last three matches.
What an incredible turn-around, right? At the end of September, the writing was so firmly placed on the wall for manager Alan Pardew’s firing that it could’ve been chiseled there with a hammer. Now? He’s an early Manager of the Year candidate and is being sung to by the whole of St. James’ Park on a weekly basis.
Obviously, beating Man City, Spurs and Liverpool in a two-week span do wonders for your street cred.
Sleep-Walking Giants
7. Manchester United, 16 pts – Matchday 10: 1-0 L at Man City ; Matchday 11: 1-0 W vs Palace
While the Red Devils didn’t exactly ace their first two big tests of the season against Chelsea and at City, they also didn’t fall flat. Thanks to a last-gasp RVP equalizer, Man U became only the second team to take points off the Blues, and while they ultimately lost the Etihad Derby, the result might’ve been much different had Chris Smalling not lost his head and gotten a second yellow on a late tackle on James Milner early in the second half. (If you recall, he’d gotten the first yellow for purposefully impeding a Joe Hart goal kick. Nice work, Chris.)
You can tell the whole Rooney/Di Maria/Falcao/Van Persie/Mata dynamic is still a work-in-progress, but the defending has been better of late, as they’ve only allowed more than one goal on just one occasion since their five-goal capitulation at Leicester on Matchday #5, a key to their success during this spell when the attack hasn’t exactly been overpowering teams. With that said, with the quality they possess, they’re always a moment away from doing something special, as evidence by Mata’s game-winning distance strike against Palace.
Louis Van Gaal might still be figuring out who his Best XI are, but again, as the league is so even this year, they’ve not lost too much ground on the lead pack during the experimentation phase. They have a great opportunity to make up some of that gap on Matchday #12, when they travel to North London to face fellow underachiever…
6. Arsenal, 17 pts – Matchday 10: 3-0 W vs Burnley ; Matchday 11: 2-1 L at Swansea
It’s looking like another half-full/half-empty season for the Gunners, isn’t it? On one hand, we haven’t seen a fully-fit squad from them yet this season and won’t until sometime in 2015, which – depending on your level of optimism – is either a good thing or a worrying sign. Word just dropped that Mesut Ozil’s out for another two months, and while Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny, and Mathieu Debouchy are all on the verge of returning… unfortunately, “on the verge” and “returning” aren’t quite the same thing.
At least Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey all seem to be healed after missing time – significant time, in Walcott’s case – and while the lads that have been filling in have done enough to keep Arsenal on the right end of the table, the return of some of these major members of the squad will only serve to boost the Gunners’ level of play, which frankly has only been so-so. Despite the 3-0 final scoreline, the win against Burnley was any thing but comfortable, as the game was scoreless until the 70th before Alexis Sanchez took over, while the Swansea result speaks for itself. Nothing against the Swans, who as you’ll have surely noticed have not been on this list yet and therefore are above Arsenal in the table, but the Gunners let the lead slip over a disastrous three-minute span that saw a poor challenge lead to a free kick equalizer (GYLFI!!), and then featured poor defending (from
Jefferson Montero Whipping Boy
Callum Chambers) and poor marking (from everyone else) to let the second goal crash in on a Bafetimbi Gomis header.
When you combine that finish with the way the North Londoners absolutely stuck their fingers down their throats while surrendering a three-goal lead at home in the UCL the midweek previous to world superpower Anderlecht, and you’ve got some cause for concern.
The one area of the Gunners’ season that is undeniably half-full, however, has been the arrival and subsequent awesomeness of one Alexis Sanchez.
Look at what Sanchez has done already this year, especially since Wenger started playing him behind Danny Welbeck as a central attacking mid. He’s scored eight goals already this season in the league, with six of those coming in his last four EPL matches, and has eleven in all competitions since joining Arsenal this summer. He makes his teammates better, he hustles, he creates, etc., but think about this: with Giroud out for the first half of the season, if Arsene didn’t sign Sanchez for the not-so-outrageous-given-the-climate $65 million from Barca, where would the goals be coming from…and how low down the table would this club be?
(…Maybe don’t think about that.)
Sanchez has become the heart and soul of the Gunners, the rare Arsenal man that works incredibly hard off the ball but has enough pace, guile and touch on it to fit in with the rest of the squad. People have been quick to compare Chelsea’s Diego Costa as the 2014 edition of what Luis Suarez was for Liverpool last season, but in reality, it’s Sanchez that fits that analogy much better.
And if you recall, he was the replacement LFC wanted…only the Chilean wanted to play in London instead of on Merseyside.
(…Stupid geography.)
The next few weeks see the Gunners host fixtures against Man U and Southampton with a trip to the Hawthornes sandwiched between. We’ll know a little more about what this team is made of after that.
The Benefactors
5. Swansea, 18 pts – Matchday 10: 0-0 D at Everton ; Matchday 11: 2-1 W vs Arsenal
I could spend the majority of this Swans section on the Bafetimbi Gomis “Lion King: The Musical Audition” goal celebration after his game-winner against Arsenal…but I won’t.
Instead, let’s talk about how Gary Monk’s club have rediscovered the type of form that helped them earn wins in their first three matches of season. Remember, this team was 3-0-0 and in second place in mid-September before being humbled 4-2 by Chelsea in Matchday #4; the beat-down left them in a daze, and they proceeded to not win again for over a month before rebounding with this latest three-game unbeaten streak.
The key to the resurgence? The easy answers are that they’re defending better and smarter – only one goal allowed in three matches, and no sending-offs, a problem for this team – and they’ve gotten more of a goal-threat from multiple sources, not just their forwards. Wilfried Bony is back in-form, Gyfli Sigurdsson looks brilliant every time out, Jefferson Montero has been a terror on the left wing, and Gomis finally looks dangerous, the first time that’s really been the case since joining the Welsh club from Lyon this summer.
The win at home against Arsenal – in an absolute gale, by the way – was a great testament of this club’s fighting spirit and their quality. The Sigurdsson free kick was of the highest order, and Montero’s cross and Gomis’ subsequent header were textbook, and they deserved the victory in the end. They’ll need to hope the confidence they gained from that win carries over into Matchday #12, when they’ll travel to the Etihad for another stiff test.
4. West Ham, 18 pts – Matchday #10: 2-2 D at Stoke ; Matchday #11: 0-0 D vs Villa
If it wasn’t for Southampton, the Irons would be the surprise team of the league this season. But even though they’ve overachieved by leaps and bounds and are still unbeaten in their last five, Sam Allardyce’s crew will be kicking themselves for not being even higher up on the table after two straight draws following their win against Man City on Matchday #9.
The 2-2 draw at the Brittania was a rescue mission from early on, as the Hammers fell behind two goals to nil and needed a fierce comeback to earn anything, although thanks to quick-response goals from Enner Valencia and Stewart “England’s Calling Me?!” Downing, they had erased the deficit with time to spare and nearly grabbed a winner in the end.
If the Stoke match ended on a positive note, the Villa game probably should’ve, if not for good goalkeeping from Brad Guzan and – quite frankly – some bad luck for WHU. The Irons outshot their guests 21-12, won the possession battle nearly 60%-40% and had 13 corners in the match, but they couldn’t turn all of their statistical advantages into anything on the scoresheet. (This game also saw the return of Andy “The Albatross” Carroll, who came on as a substitute after missing the first several months of the season with an ankle injury. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not.)
While a home draw against down-and-out Villa has to feel like points lost, the fact that the club are in a position to feel superior in any Prem game and to start expecting wins is a good sign moving forward. Granted, if the results dry up, the raised expectations won’t exactly help Big Sam stay at his post…but we’ll worry about that when the time comes. The Hammers travel to Goodison next to face Everton on Matchday #12 before games against Newcastle and WBA.
The Eternal Slow Starters
3. Manchester City, 21 pts – Matchday 10: 1-0 W vs Man United ; Matchday 11: 2-2 D at QPR
Ahhh, the champs. On one hand, they rebounded well after their loss to West Ham with a win in the Etihad version of the Manchester Derby two weeks ago, retaining bragging rights over their red neighbors. Plus, Sergio Aguero found the back of the net three more time in their last two matches to remain white-hot; he now leads the league with 12 goals this season, despite only being truly fit since September.
On the other…They still don’t look quite right, do they? Despite the win, Manuel Pellegrini’s men were shaky against United and only surged ahead once the Red Devils were reduced to ten men, plus the draw at QPR probably should’ve been a loss, as every borderline decision went City’s way. (For starters, we can all agree there was a pretty obvious handball on Aguero’s first goal that wasn’t called, and even though Charlie Austin’s “second” goal was correctly waved off after Joe Hart barely double-hit his goal kick, the fact that the referee noticed was incredibly fortunate.)
Despite sitting in the relative comfort of third place, they’ve been up and down this season in both the league and in their cup competitions, and with Chelsea already eight points up on them and cruising, it feels like any realistic hope of a repeat title is slowing fading.
Now, with that said, I had mentioned at the start of this column – many, many words ago – that City only had 19 points and were in 8th at this juncture last year and still managed to lift the trophy in May, so they have plenty of time (again, 71% of the season left!) to find their best form and mount a charge. If Aguero keeps scoring, if Yaya Toure can find his form, if the backline improves, as it did last season, and if one or two players come in this January, it’s not hard to see them in the thick of this race in the end.
They Can’t Keep This Up…Right?
2. Southampton, 25 pts – Matchday 10: 0-1 W at Hull ; Matchday 11: 2-0 W vs Leicester
Yup, they’re still here! The Saints continue to march through the league schedule this Fall, winning four straight and eight of their last nine, albeit against none of the top seven from last season.
…Did that seem too backhanded? It did, didn’t it?
Despite their weak schedule, I hate to put an asterisk on what they’ve accomplished, because if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that no game is a sure thing in this league. Don’t get me wrong; winning at Hull and against Leicester is worth celebrating, just like beating City or United would be, and anytime you’re taking maximum points against anyone in the Prem, you’re doing something right.
And this team is doing a lot of things right at present.
Ronald Koeman’s club have been ruthless at times (8-0 against Sunderland!!) and have done just enough on other occasions (the Leicester game was fairly even until Shane Long happened), but they’ve been consistently brilliant, especially at the back, and haven’t shown signs of slowing down yet. Even though Graziano Pelle has cooled a bit after a torrid start, the likes of Sadio Mane and Long have stepped up to score goals, while Dusan Tadic continues to look the part of a midfield creator supreme. More impressively, they haven’t allowed a goal since Matchday #7 and have a league-leading seven clean sheets, a great credit to Fraser Forster and to the organized defense in front of him; that’s a number they’ll likely add to with toothless Aston Villa next in line on the fixture list.
Following Villa, however, things get difficult. The Saints have a nine-day stretch between November and early December that features matches against Manchester City, a trip to Arsenal, and Man United; they have an equally rough slate after Boxing Day, with Chelsea and Arsenal at home followed by the away United fixture in a fifteen-day run to open the New Year. If they can emerge from those two periods with any type of a point haul, they’ll have done something special, indeed, and will need to be labeled as true contenders for a top four place.
Until then, however, Southampton will still be in the “feel-good story” category but won’t be viewed as a real threat to stay in the title race alongside the front-runner…
Cruise-Control
1. Chelsea, 29 pts – Matchday 10: 2-1 W vs QPR ; Matchday 11: 1-2 W at Liverpool
What else can you say? The Blues don’t lose matches and are head-and-shoulders above their rivals at the moment, and while they had a few fleeting moments of doubt against QPR and Liverpool, they still managed to see both games out without too much trouble. Nemanja Matic is bossing the defensive half of midfield better than anyone on the planet, Cesc Fabregas continues to make Arsenal fans weep every time out, Thibaut Courtois has shown no struggles in adjusting to the league, and the list of superlatives goes on and on.
In even better news for the Blues, Jose Mourinho won his battle with Vicente Del Bosque over the participation of Diego Costa in Spain’s European qualifiers this week, meaning the EPL’s second-leading goal scorer will have a fortnight to rest his incredibly fragile hamstrings before the busy football holiday season.
And that brings me to this; if there is one chink in the Blues’ armor, it’s that the team is a bit too reliant on Costa, and they aren’t quite the same without him.
Yes, Didier Drogba scored a great goal in the draw against United, and yes, Loic Remy is a serviceable third option, but Costa is a player with few equals – just ask Liverpool…or Swansea, for that matter – and he elevates this team to a different level. Along with fellow Spain-To-Britain transplant Cesc Fabregas, the former Atletico man has been the key difference between this year’s Chelsea and last year’s version that couldn’t stuff the ball into the net.
If he stays fit, I can’t see anyone catching them.
If West London’s horse placenta supply runs out, and he goes down…it could be a different story.
So, with that in mind, let’s not crown Chelsea the champions just yet. It’s a long season ahead, with many more twists and turns to come, and we’ll surely be watching eagerly as they do.
…Starting right after this accursed international break.
For updates and commentary on the Barclays Premier League and the world of football in general, follow Alex Heinert on Twitter @alheinert.
Photography courtesy of PremierLeague.com