The best way to prepare for the second weekend of English Premier League action is to rehash the first weekend. Here's Travis Lankford's recap.
Usually the first day of the Premier League is a foregone conclusion and the teams that should win do win. This year, however, some smaller sides decided to put on a show. Most notably will be Southampton’s cracking effort against title winners Manchester City. Liverpool fell to their heaviest opening day defeat in 75 years which did not help the grumblings already surrounding the club. Tottenham are having to deal with the same shenanigans that Andre Villas-Boas tried to pull at Chelsea. In all, the first round of matches proved to be rife with talking points.
West Ham were gained three points against a notoriously dreadful Aston Villa side (how they stayed up last season is still amazing). As mentioned previously, West Bromwich Albion had a riot against Liverpool at the weekend. Brendan Rogers claimed that he would make history at Liverpool and after his first game he already has. The second penalty against Liverpool and the red card can be argued due to the fact that the foul was rather light. The bigger question is the original poor penalty and why anyone in the Premier League would take such a weak effort at such a great scoring opportunity. Loanee Romelu Lukaku capped off the scoreline with a header yet he should have two more assists if it were not for the poor finishing by his new teammates. The embarrassing turn and sprint past Jamie Carragher was a microcosm of Liverpool’s second half performance.
Reading dropped points at home versus Stoke City but the newly promoted side will be happy with at least a point from the draw. Swansea ran riot in their new Welsh kit, which I think I might have to pick up, against QPR. For having such wealthy owners and summer spending, QPR fell completely flat and conceded a whopping five goals. Swansea did not suffer from the sophomore slump but Norwich definitely did against Fulham. Norwich suffered the reverse scoreline against the West London club and fell five goals to nil. Contrary to American headlines, that was the big story rather than the owners’ refusal to move Dempsey this season.
Arsenal floundered against Sunderland and either team could have come away with the three points but they ended with a scoreless draw. With the new players and departures, Arsenal won’t click initially but they did have some good signs even if they were wasteful and still dreadful at the back. Newcastle versus Tottenham…Alan Shearer, the legendary Newcastle striker, commented that he was surprised by the high defensive line that Tottenham played. A great striker he may have been but how anyone was surprised by AVB’s tactics is beyond idiotic. Granted, AVB’s man management was expected to improve, and it hasn’t, but he still remains a staunch believer in his tactics and it will not prove fruitful for him at another London club. Tottenham lost the game because they would not stop being so offensively minded.
Wigan hosted Chelsea and the game was done and dusted after just six minutes. New Chelsea signing Eden Hazard blazed onto the Premier League scene with an assist and a created penalty in the span of four minutes. Chelsea looked extremely dangerous in the first half but it declined as time went on as they secured their lead. The second half saw Wigan come close a handful of times due to Chelsea seeking a third goal to put the game to bed. Victor Moses, the potential Chelsea signing, looked very dangerous throughout the game but Chelsea exploited the space created by Wigan’s 3-4-3 formation and that eventually was the reason for their win (and Wigan’s poor finishing).
The final two games involved both Manchester clubs that ended last season as #1 and #2. Manchester City were playing Southampton, a well known English team but out of top flight action for almost a decade, and the latter almost came away with a shock result. The game was plagued by failed defensive clearances and that is why it ended 3-2. It will be interesting to see how Manchester City’s defense responds as they had an impeccable back four last season. Everton hosted Manchester United and the latter looked extremely uninspired, slow, and narrow. RVP started on the bench but was not involved as much as he should have been when brought on the field. Kagawa was unable to unlock the Everton defense and Fellaini still proves to be on the best Premier League midfielders.
Matchday One supplied us with many interesting points to bring up and many points that are old stories just re-hashed. There were some shocking results and some that were not very surprising. The results of the opening of the season should not be stressed too much but the media does tend to run with any story they can muster. Manchester United and Liverpool are not in panic mode even if many wished that they were. Eden Hazard is not the next Gianfranco Zola and no one in the Chelsea organization believes that to be a truthful statement. Everton will not finish in the top four; Fulham and Swansea will probably not score five goals in one game again in the rest of Premier League season. Onto Matchday Two and the next round of Premier League action, my friends. Enjoy the life!
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