Winners
Liverpool’s ‘total football’
I want to use that phrase carefully, because I’m not suggesting that Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are as good as the Ajax team from the 1970s or the Dutch 1974 World Cup team, but there is something inherently similar in their approaches. Whatever Richard Keys might think, nobody is suggesting that Klopp invented the idea of pressing. What they are saying is that, right now, he’s nailing it.
Just as __with Rinus Michels’ version of the concept, there is an incredible versatility to Liverpool that is proving tough to defend against. James Milner at full-back. Lucas Leiva in central defence. Emre Can on the left of a midfield three. Roberto Firmino as the nominal central forward. A front three not just able to swap positions to confuse a defence, but at its best when doing so. Rather than forcing square pegs into round holes, Klopp has simply made the holes big enough to take any shape.
Look too at Liverpool’s goalscorers from this season. Ten different players have scored in the league alone, more than any other Premier League team. Seven different players have scored twice or more, only one fewer than Liverpool managed during their entire title challenge of 2013/14. Of their 30 league goals, 16 have been shared between their first-choice front three, seven by midfielders and seven more by defenders.
Emre Can, __with six senior career league goals before this season, has two in two games. Philippe Coutinho is three away from his highest goals total in a league season. Adam Lallana is one away from his highest assist total. Roberto Firmino is taking more shots than ever before. So too is Sadio Mane.
Liverpool don’t play another member of the top six until New Year’s Eve. By then, they really could be rolling.
Jurgen Klopp and the importance of fun
Top of the league again for the first time since May 2014, days after Steven Gerrard’s slip and the Crystal Palace collapse. There are no prizes handed out in November, but few thought Klopp could make Liverpool this good, this quickly. This is – should it even need to be reiterated now – emphatic evidence for the removal of Brendan Rodgers; Liverpool’s brave decision also looks a brilliant one.
The first thing you notice about Liverpool’s team, manager and fans right now is just how much everybody is smiling. That’s an obvious thing to say when a team is winning, but it feels more powerful. Klopp’s personality, whether you consider it schtick or not, is infectious. He is a coach that fans can’t help but warm to and players can’t help but want to impress. The power of personality won’t account for all flaws, but can cover up some.
Liverpool have scored four, five and six goals already this season, and four or more in a game in five of their 11 matches. Yet it is the manner of their performances that are so impressive, and their obvious desire to impress the manager. Look at substitute Gini Wijnaldum’s delight after scoring his goal against Watford, the sixth in a 6-1 win.
“It’s a blessing for everyone in the dressing room that we can be a part of this team and this club,” Wijnaldum said after the game. “In situations and moments where it is going well, you enjoy football more than normal. We are scoring goals and playing well. These are happy moments here in Liverpool.” Everybody wants to dance at this party.
Let’s put this as simply as possible: Liverpool’s players look like they’re having fun. It’s a concept that often gets lost in the pressured arena of the Premier League, where sport meets business and promptly gets lost under a pile of pound signs, but players really do love playing football. with demanding training sessions, repeated drills and sacrifices in all other areas of their life, the football known by a professional is far removed from our own memories of playing the game but, at its most basic, this is still a sport that almost every player is in love with. There are few for whom ‘professional footballer’ is just a job, and few still in any industry who don’t perform better when they enjoy waking up and going to work every day.
The key to Klopp’s success is harnessing that fun, and it’s a harder balance than it sounds to give players confidence to express themselves without it looking like a disorganised mess. That’s part of the reason for Liverpool’s defensive fragility, but also the foundation of their attacking impetus. Klopp won’t be preaching this message, but it doesn’t matter how many you concede when you’re scoring at a rate of three per game.
Klopp has not yet turned Liverpool into a title-winning or title-challenging squad; the proof of that will come during winter and spring, not autumn. Yet one of the hallmarks of their 2013/14 season was a team playing expansive, attractive, fun football, and Klopp’s task is to replicate that without the late-season collapse.
Crucially, Liverpool are less reliant on the services of one individual. “If Suarez was here, he’d be on the bench,” was the chant around Anfield on Sunday. Those smiles aren’t going anywhere for now.
Jose Mourinho
I wasn’t the only guilty party, but my reaction to Manchester United’s team selection for the trip to Swansea was to exhale sharply. It felt like a pointed call from Mourinho, a blend of ‘I need a central defender’ and ‘I’ll pick who I want’. No Luke Shaw or Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the squad, no Marcus Rashford, Daley Blind or Anthony Martial in the starting XI. After suffering the migraine of a thousand pundits’ advice, Mourinho was doing it his own way. It was ever thus.
United were ably assisted by a dire Swansea performance, but it feels miserly not to give Mourinho the credit for his courage of conviction. His team were completely dominant during the first half, and played the second at walking pace.
Given the comfort of the victory, Mourinho took his chance to publicly criticise Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw after the game for their allegedly weak mentalities.
“Smalling doesn’t feel that he can play 100 per cent with his pain,” Mourinho said. “Luke Shaw told me this morning that he was not in the condition to play so we had to build a defensive line. There is a difference between the brave that will be there at any cost and the ones that a little pain can make a difference. Great football people – great sportspeople – many, many times play without being 100 per cent. For the team you have to do anything – that’s my way of saying.”
Don’t hold back, eh.
Manchester United’s big names
Even more than Manchester United’s beleaguered manager, this was a victory for their big-name players, trusted following huge criticism over the last few weeks.
Firstly Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who finally scored after his barren run and registered the 400th club goal of his career. The second-half booking that will cause him to miss the Arsenal game is an annoyance, but this was an afternoon for (deserved) criticism to be tempered.
Next Wayne Rooney, who produced not a display of old but certainly a performance that jarred against the recent norm. There were no wayward shots from distance (United actually scored with all three of their shots on target) and no shanked passes into touch, but there were two assists in a league game for the first time since December 2013. Rooney won’t get the freedom of attacking midfield against better teams than Swansea but, again, this is not the time for ‘but…’.
And finally to Paul Pogba, the recipient of the most unfair criticism. Given very little pre-season after a long tournament summer in which the weight of expectation rested upon his shoulders, we can only truly judge him fairly next season. In August Jose Mourinho spoke of breaking Pogba into the team gently; by November only one outfield player has played more. His shot (not a volley. NOT A VOLLEY) to give United the lead was a demonstration of his wonderful technique, and no Premier League player this weekend had more touches or completed more passes. It makes you yearn to see him in full stride.
Manchester United’s efficiency
Twenty-nine shots against Hull for one goal. Twenty-four shots against Stoke for one goal. Sixteen shots against Chelsea for no goals. Thirty-eight shots against Burnley for no goals. Nine shots against Swansea for three goals.
Come play the easiest game of spot the difference ever.
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa
Last season, Chelsea’s two most talented attacking players contributed a combined 16 goals and nine assists in 59 games. In 22 games this season, they’ve already reached 16 goals and have registered four assists. Fair to say things are going well.
The most impressive thing about the Costa-Hazard partnership is just how many times Chelsea’s most creative player and central striker exchange possession. It’s a point this column has made negatively about Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez this season, who exchanged passes once in 45 minutes on Sunday, but Chelsea’ pair turn that on its head. In 80 minutes against Everton, they exchanged passes 21 times. That’s ludicrous.
Tottenham
Look, just go read 16 Conclusions on Tottenham, Dembele, the 3-4-3, Harry Kane and Vincent Janssen and meet me back here in ten minutes.
Mousa Dembele
The best player in the north London derby, and an outrageously cool head in the hardest area of the pitch to stay calm. He’s every bit the “genius” Mauricio Pochettino labelled him.
Nacho Monreal
Arsenal might not have the strongest squad, the best attack or the best central midfielders in the Premier League, but they certainly have the best full-backs. Hector Bellerin gets headlines because he’s young, fast and the perfect image for advertisers, but Monreal is better. He’d be my first full-back pick in a Premier League XI.
Pedro
The other member of Chelsea’s sexy new front three is in the kind of form not seen since he was winning everything with Spain and Barcelona. He was our early winner.
Hull City
Finally enjoying that winning Phelan.
Robert Snodgrass
Limited to 40 minutes of action due to serious injury during Hull’s last Premier League season, there should be nobody unhappy that Snodgrass is making the most of his second chance. Four goals and an assist in 832 minutes is a seriously good return in a struggling side.
Making the most of your chances
Bournemouth had 52 touches of the ball in the opposition penalty area (the most in the Premier League) and scored once, losing to Sunderland. Hull had nine and scored twice, beating Southampton. Go figure.
The title race
The points gap between first and fourth at this stage of the last few seasons has been as follows:
2015/16 – 4
2014/15 – 11
2013/14 – 4
2012/13 – 7
2011/12 – 9
2010/11 – 5
2009/10 – 5
2008/09 – 6
You get the picture. The gap between first and fourth is just two points, and that includes neither the only unbeaten team or the pre-season second favourites. This title race could be exceptionally exciting.
David Moyes
To see Moyes’ face when Steven Pienaar had been shown a red card, looking down from the stands forlornly as another game went sour, was to have your heartstrings tugged. Good for him that an unlikely win followed.
Victor Anichebe
Scored in a Premier League win for the first time since April 2013 and has not left the top flight since. What a man.
Burnley
Erm, they’re in the top half, you know. Any more wins and Sean Dyche might notice all those people saying that he’s doing a damn fine job.
Middlesbrough
Only the top five can match Middlesbrough’s single away defeat, and Aitor Karanka’s side have now drawn away at two of those.
Matty Phillips
3 – This is the third time Matty Phillips has scored and assisted in the same Premier League game. Involved.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 6, 2016
Another member of the list of young players for whom I have an inordinate affinity.
Watching from the stands
Moyes and Mourinho both achieved wins to relieve some of the pressure upon them while sitting in the stands after bans. Quick Bob Bradley, call someone a c***.
Losers
Claudio Ranieri and priorities
It was Gary Lineker who reflected the mood around Leicester City when, on Sunday afternoon, he tweeted that they could be the first team to win the Champions League and get relegated in the same season. There is a gap between Leicester’s performances in Europe and at home that will be concerning some supporters, whatever the glory of last season. Lineker was joking, but the general point stands.
No reasonable adjudicator would criticise Claudio Ranieri’s decision to prioritise the Champions League over the Premier League, but there is no doubt that such an obvious decision has led to a drop in domestic performance. While knockout stage qualification is virtually assured, Ranieri’s team lost at home to West Brom to drop to 14th in the Premier League. They’re only two points above the relegation places.
Making comparisons with last season will always reflect badly, but Leicester have now dropped 21 Premier League points. They took until January 16 to do that in 2015/16.
Ranieri’s port in the storm had been Leicester’s home form, an unbeaten league run that stretched back to September 26, 2015. That was not only given up against West Brom on Sunday, but given up against a team who had won three away games in all competitions in the last year, against Everton, Crystal Palace and Bristol City.
Leicester’s defence now looks worryingly fragile, conceding twice to a team who had scored more than one goal in any away game twice in 2016. If you’re struggling to defend against a Tony Pulis team at home, you’re struggling full stop. Ranieri needs to make adjustments to stop that crown from slipping.
Swansea City
Bad. I mean really bad. The kind of bad that makes you check the odds on a team finishing bottom of the Premier League, seeing the price of 5/1 and considering it. The kind of bad that makes you watch Match of the Day 2 five hours after the game finishes to check it was really as bad as you thought, and realising it was worse. The kind of bad that makes you check to see that Swansea didn’t sell four of their first-team players from last season without you noticing. If Bob Bradley didn’t already know that he had a job on his hands, he does now.
One huge worry for Swansea’s new manager is that there is no discernible fight from a group of players whose comparative quality makes fight a vital tool. The squad is littered with players who are not good enough, not good enough anymore or not good enough yet: Angel Rangel, Modou Barrow, Alfie Mawson, Stephen Kingsley, Leon Britton, Wayne Routledge. Ask yourself whether any of those would excel in a Championship promotion-winning team.
The sale of Ashley Williams might just have been the removal of the glue holding Swansea together. Their defence on Sunday – Mawson (who is still young and highly-regarded, Rangel, Kingsley and Van der Hoorn – is worse than at least four or five Championship teams, and every other Premier League team. Just in front and behind them, Leroy Fer and Lukasz Fabianski are left with far too much work to do.
In addition, the two strikers on whom Swansea have gambled their Premier League survival are also struggling for service and form. Fernando Llorente has had three shots on target since the opening day, while Borja Baston has had two in total. The pair need to click and click quickly if Bradley’s team are not to be cast adrift.
Arsene Wenger
“Was there a mental blow when they equalised? I don’t know. I cannot question the spirit but we looked a bit flat.”
Don’t say that Arsene. The last thing we want is those doubts about Arsenal’s mental strength to come flooding back with Manchester United as your next opponent. Perhaps an international break has come at the perfect time?
Aaron Ramsey
Singling him out for criticism might sound a little harsh straight after injury, but I won’t stop until he desists from shooting from distance. The last time Aaron Ramsey had a shot from outside the area in the Premier League that was on target was January 2. You’ve got other options, Aaron. Use them.
Alan Pardew
Oh Chunky. I almost deleted my post-match piece and started again after Crystal Palace came from 2-0 down at Burnley. That Pardew’s team managed to lose the game twice only adds to his woes. Palace have now taken 24 points from their last 32 league games. That’s eight worse than Sunderland and Watford, their nearest ‘competitors’.
Ronald Koeman
Our early loser. I like Koeman, but he cocked things up spectacularly this weekend. Don’t pick a formation if you don’t have the players to make it effective.
Manchester City’s profligacy
“What happens in the Premier League is that when they arrive in the area they punish you,” said Pep Guardiola after the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough, not bothering to hide his frustration. “That’s why we have to try when we arrive there – like the chances in the first half. They had 10 players defending, they didn’t want to play. When 10 players are there it is difficult but we created enough chances to score another goal.”
Guardiola is right to be annoyed. The 4-0 win against West Brom aside, the last six weeks have been intensely frustrating for Manchester City in front of goal, at least in the Premier League. Take out that West Brom game and City have taken 69 shots in four matches and scored just three times. A shot conversion rate of 16% in the first six weeks of the season has taken a hammering since.
Ramiro Funes Mori
The apparent leader of Argentina is not fit for purpose at Everton. Any formation that relies on Funes Mori should be consigned to the bin.
Bournemouth
Sorry lads, but you know the rules. Lose to Sunderland at home and it’s automatic relegation.
Watford
A defeat that is no disaster in isolation, but bore the hallmarks of several chickens coming home to roost. Younes Kaboul in central defence, Odion Ighalo struggling up front and two ineffective wingers. These are not good things, and that is some top analysis.
Southampton
Find me someone who saw that coming at 1-0 up, and I’ll find you either a liar or somebody I want to follow into the bookmakers every week.
Daniel Storey