ANOTHER wild Premier League weekend saw Manchester United end Andres Villas-Boas’ unbeaten start in spectacular fashion at Old Trafford. Tottenham went goal-crazy at White Hart Lane to deflate Kenny Dalglish’s promising start while new boys Swansea, Norwich and QPR put smiles on their fans faces with welcome victories.
WINNERS
Manchester United
A 100% record from their opening five Premier League games, 21 goals scored and a miserly four conceded has Manchester United deservedly two points clear at the summit of the Premier League. Aside from the unbeaten start, the manner in which Alex Ferguson’s new-look team have gone about their business is bad news for the other Premier League clubs. Summer transfers Ashley Young and Phil Jones were brought in at the beginning of the summer and have seamlessly integrated into the United setup. It is going to take something extra-special to prevent the current Champions from retaining their title.
Steve Kean
The biggest smile of the Premier League weekend belonged to under-fire Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean. Rovers shocked an out of form Arsenal 4-3 thanks to a brace of goals from (Kean signing) Yakubu and it proved the perfect response to a pre-match protest against the manager from disgruntled Blackburn supporters.
David Moyes
Question: Just where would Everton football club be if David Moyes wasn’t in charge? Answer: The Championship, most probably. Chairman Bill Kenwright has gone on record at stating the Goodison Park club must operate under the strictest of budgets to keep their heads above water. Season after season Moyes operates with little or no transfer money and maintains Everton’s Premier League status. Apostolos Vellios and Royston Drenthe were plucked from relative obscurity by Moyes and both players repaid their manager’s faith with goals in the 3-1 weekend victory at home to Wigan. Everton are up to seventh in the table and will continue to flourish as long as the tough talking Scotsman remains at the helm.
LOSERS
Kenny Dalglish
The opening 20 minutes at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon were a damning indictment of the Anfield legend’s managerial pedigree. Tottenham had cemented their authority — long before Liverpool were reduced to 10 men — thanks to the midfield dominance of Luka Modric and Scott Parker. In marked contrast two of Dalglish’s marquee signings, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson, looked completely out of their depth. Worse still, Liverpool looked rudderless and lost their shape far too easily as a hungrier Spurs were quicker to the ball and clinical in attack. The season is barely a month old but already Liverpool faces an uphill battle to secure Europa let alone Champions League football next term.
Fernando Torres
Torres’ inclusion in the losers section might appear harsh considering the Chelsea striker got on the score sheet at Old Trafford yesterday and setup both his side’s goals in their midweek Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen. A marked improvement in recent weeks fails to paper over the cracks of a player in decline. Torres (like another former Liverpool striker Michael Owen) has lost a half a yard of pace and his game is suffering terribly because of it. The missed open goal against Manchester United and subsequent headlines will only add to mounting speculation of a loan move away from Stamford Bridge in January.
Arsenal
The Gunners league form has been horrific since the start of the new season but Saturday’s capitulation at a rain-soaked Ewood Park represented a new low. Two own goals was bad enough yet the usual leadership, poise, panache and goal-scoring threat synonymous with Arsenal under Arsene Wenger appears to disappeared from the North London club. Worse still the 4-3 reversal marked the Gunners 100th away defeat in Premier League history.
Follow Ger on Twitter: @offcentrecircle
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/AYck0ySSmHU/post.aspx
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