1. Diving is OK now
Diving seems to be all the rage in the Premier League this season. By far and away the stars of this noble new trend are Chelsea, whose return to winning ways was something of a sub-plot to their comfortable 2-0 victory over Hull at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The game saw three blatant dives from Gary Cahill, Diego Costa and Willian, the most flagrant of which – Cahill’s – went totally unpunished, as referee Chris Foy did his much-cherished and well-respected profession no favours by failing to show Cahill a second yellow card for hitting the deck theatrically in the Hull box. It’s difficult to see quite how Foy can justify his appalling decisions. The only conclusion is that he was influenced by the crowd at Stamford Bridge.
There has predictably been widespread media outrage about both Chelsea and Foy – particularly, it seems, that such a noble defender as Gary Cahill could be guilty of such chicanery. It now appears that diving is no longer a foreign epidemic to be grumbled about by English pundits and managers, but has now been adopted by salt-of-the-earth English players themselves. Either way, it’s here to stay, and referees now seem totally fine with it.
2. Brendan Rogers is on thin ice
Liverpool proved just how far they’ve slipped from last season’s nearly men by losing 3-0 to their bitter rivals Manchester United. Brendan Rogers gambled big by playing Raheem Sterling as a makeshift striker. His side were dominant for most of the match and deserved more, but Sterling was denied three times by David de Gea, who was once again United’s saviour. Liverpool were disorganised, giving Antonio Valencia free rein of the right wing and Juan Mata the permission to saunter through their leaky defence and head the ball home (from an admittedly offside position).
Regardless of their dominance, Liverpool’s lack of cutting edge has just as much to do with Rogers’ failures in the transfer window (and naive team selection) as it has to do with De Gea’s amazing reflexes. Rather than at least trying to replace Luis Suarez with a striker of a similar calibre, Rogers brought in a notoriously volatile man child and a 32-year-old. You can point to the fact that Liverpool are sill missing Daniel Sturridge, but the United side that beat them has suffered from an even bigger injury epidemic.
It seems that Liverpool have ultimately failed to learn from Spurs’ mistakes last season, following the sale of their most prized possession. Unless Rogers can turn things around quickly, we could see him go the same way as Andre Villas Boas.
3. Mauricio Pochettino rides his luck
Football is a game of the finest margins and the cruelest twists of fate. If Liverpool were unlucky against United, then Spurs were this week’s biggest chancers. For the fourth time in the last seven games, Spurs conjured up a late winner out of nowhere to mask what was – for the most part – another turgid performance.
The fact that this has now become something of a habit for Spurs has led some to claim that this new found resilience (rather than luck) is a reward for Mauricio Pochettino’s intensive training schedules, which were questioned at the start of the season. Of course, had Spurs failed to beat Swansea – which would have been no less than they deserved – the Argentinian’s methods would’ve no doubt been called into question all over again.
Despite finding themselves in a favourable league position, Sunday’s win confirmed two things: Pochettino’s Tottenham are still very much a work in progress and further reinforcements (upfront and perhaps in centre midfield) are needed in January if they have any chance of pushing on.
4. The wheels fall off Southampton’s joyride
Southampton showed signs that the wheels have fallen off as they fell to their fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of lowly Burnley. It was impossible not to feel sympathy for last year’s surprise package when they were pillaged in the summer transfer window, and it was even harder not to enjoy watching them race out of the blocks in the first few months of the season.
You’d back Ronald Koeman to reinvigorate his troops – particularly with Jay Rodriguez due back from injury soon and Wesley Sneijder rumoured to be joining the club in January – but looking at their fixtures over Christmas, which includes Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton away, it could be about to get even stormier for the Saints.
5. Buffoons of the Week: Arsenal’s spoilt boo-boys
We were all reminded of the fickle nature of Arsenal supporters this week, as a chorus of Gooners sung Arsene Wenger’s praises following a convincing 4-1 win over Newcastle United – barely a week after a crowd of Arsenal diehards were seen hurling abuse at the Frenchman at a train station in Stoke.
Criticism of Wenger isn’t totally unfounded, but one might expect Arsenal fans to show a bit more respect for the most successful manager their club has ever had. Arsenal supporters have been the spoilt brats of the Premier League for some time now, with a sense of entitlement to endless trophies that even United and Chelsea fans don’t seem to share.
Fans leading the recent mutiny at the Emirates Stadium might do well to learn a lesson from their rivals in the North West, Manchester United and Liverpool. After all, finishing in the top four for 18 consecutive seasons doesn’t just magically happen. David Moyes can tell you that.
Alex Andrews & Connor Pierce
Filed under: Sport
