1. Ronald Koeman latest gamble pays off as Saints’ hot streak continues
Who says you can’t build a team from scratch, make shrewd signings from the foreign leagues and get them to gel almost immediately? It’s rare that such experiments pay off, but Ronald Koeman has made it look remarkably easy in what many other clubs would have written off as a transition season.
Koeman took a gamble that most managers would be afraid of taking, bringing in players who had never played in the Premier League before and trusting hungry youngsters with an unnverving amount of responsibility.
If the performances of the likes of Graziano Pellè, Dušan Tadić, James Ward-Prowse and Nathaniel Clyne weren’t already enough to prove Koeman’s midas touch, his latest gamble on Eljero Elia – a player whose career has been in the doldrums for the last four years – scored twice in his second game for the club, earning the club another three points in what was a much more tightly contested affair than they’ve been used to.
2. Alan Pardew knows what he’s doing
Well, what a turn up for the books. Just a few months after 60,000 disgruntled Geordies rather unsubtlely hinted towards a faint dissatisfaction with Alan Pardew, the former Newcastle United manager has shown the Magpies just what they’re missing with two consecutive, thrilling wins as boss of a Palace side who hadn’t won in eight games before his arrival.
Pardew was keen to stress the importance of ‘mavericks,’ after last week’s win over Tottenham Hotspur, and given his unorthodox approach to management, it’s no surprise that Pardew is setting to mould the team in his own defiant image. Football’s own rebel without a cause again adopted this reckless approach on Saturday, lulling Burnley into a false sense of security by gifting them a two goal lead inside 20 minutes, before his side – led by the firepower of a rejuvenated Dwight Gayle – launched a devastating comeback on the Clarets to snatch a 3-2 victory in the game’s dying minutes.
The magnanimous Shaun Dyche naturally expressed disappointment at Burnley’s performance, but insisted his side’s spirit was not broken. This result, however, could be pivotal in deciding the outcomes of both Burnley and Palace’s seasons when May comes around. It’s a dog eat dog world down there at the bottom of the Premiership, and at the moment, it looks like Alan Pardew has the biggest teeth.
3. Arsenal do Chelsea a favour
After thumping Swansea 5-0 at the Liberty Stadium, Chelsea fans found themselves cheering on Arsenal as they travelled to the Etihad Stadium to face Man City. All of their dreams came true, as Arsenal won 2-0, opening up a five point gap at the top of the table (although City still have a game in hand). Not even Frank Lampard could save City during an ill-fated second-half cameo.
Arsenal dug deep and served up a performance that was very unlike Arsenal. They looked compact, restricting David Silva to the odd deft touch and thus cutting off the supply to Sergio Aguero, who started for the first time in six weeks.
Crucially, Arsenal were dangerous on the counter attack, with Santi Cazorla pulling the strings in midfield – and doing more than his share defensively – and Alexis Sanchez transitioning the ball quickly to steal the impetus away from City and make the usually unflappable Vincent Kompany look bang average.
4. Jermain Defoe returns to the Premier League with a whimper
Jermain Defoe’s agent must be a miracle worker. If it wasn’t enough that he managed to wangle a four-year deal with Toronto FC, the striker returned to the Premier League – having failed to make much of an impact against MLS’ creaky defences – to sign a three-and-half-year contract with Sunderland, which will keen him in gainful employment until the grand age of 35.
Defoe was thrown straight back into deep end, leading the line away at his old club Tottenham. His perceived pace and 100% record of scoring on his debut was enough to pressure Mauricio Pochettino into dropping Federico Fazio for the more agile Eric Dier at centre-back.
It’s safe to say that the change wasn’t required. Aside from getting Jan Vertonghen a little hot under the collar on two occasions, winning a cheap free kick – which Sebastian Larsson expertly converted – and very nearly a penalty early on in the game, he was rarely involved, managing just one shot on goal and being substituted in the 75th minute.
5. No one understands the handball rule
The furore which followed Southampton captain José Fonte blocking a shot with his arm – in his own penalty box no less – during his side’s victory over Newcastle made it very clear that football fans still have no idea when a referee should penalise a player for handling the ball and when he should allow play to carry on.
In the Sky Sports studio after the game, Matt Le Tissier said the referee was right not to award a penalty, because there seemed to be no intention of Fonte’s part, based the speed at which the ball was struck and his close proximity. This riled Jamie Carragher, who argued that the vast majority of handball claims are unintentional and therefore, whether it is meant or not is irrelevant.
While Carragher may have a point that penalties and free-kicks are frequently awarded for unintentional handballs, they shouldn’t be. For all the talk of ball-to-hand, hand-to-ball and unnatural positioning of the arm, the only guidance from Fifa is that a player should be penalised if he “handles the ball deliberately.” So let’s move on shall we?
Alex Andrews & Connor Pierce
Filed under: Sport
