Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
So after the latest week of the Premier League season, here’s what we learnt this weekend:
Firstly we’ve learnt that for some reason people are surprised by Manchester City’s start to the season. Of course nobody not even Mystic Meg or Russell Grant between them could have predicted the result of the Manchester Derby which saw Roberto Mancini’s side run riot at Old Trafford scoring five times after Jonny Evans got sent off early after half-time.
There’s no doubt that City deserved to win the game and that Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli, James Milner, Micah Richards and David Silva in particular all deserved to end up on the winning side, but poor tactics from Manchester United’s players on the day allowed City to run riot. At 3-1 down they should have concentrated on defending and stopped City from scoring more.
We’ve learnt that Nemanja Vidic simply has to stay injury-free from now on this season. Some questioned the decision made by Sir Alex Ferguson to leave the Serb out of the squad to face league leaders City at the weekend stating that it would be one that would come back to bite the Scot in the rear-end come full time on Sunday.
Vidic has stepped into the captain’s role brilliantly at United and brings out the best in all of his team-mates. It’s vital after shipping six that United can now toughen up at the back and go back to keeping clean sheets and not allowing teams too many chances (if any) in a game. At the same time it’s vital United’s central midfielder’s grap a game by the scruff of a neck too.
We’ve learnt that Andre-Villas Boas is not the ‘nice little simple Portuguese lad’ that the media have made him out to be. Don’t get me wrong I am not being overly-critical of Chelsea’s new manager but the man is a winner and will defend and back his players until it can be proven beyond any doubt that they are in the wrong. That’s what all managers do.
Yes, whilst his team were disappointing against QPR, by criticising the performance of the game’s referee Chris Foy, he has deflected all the attention from his team’s bad performance onto him, which makes it easer for his players to respond. Boas is a graduate of the game and he’s very methodical and clever in every little thing that he does, he’s the opposite of ‘simple.’
We’ve learnt that Everton, a club who have had more ‘bad luck’ over the last decade or so than most clubs, can actually receive ‘good luck’ for a change. Anyone who watched their 3-1 win at Craven Cottage over Fulham, would agree that the full-time result was very unfair on Fulham who conceded two goals in injury-time to lose the game.
Bobby Zamora wasted a gift-wrapped chance to win the game for Martin Jol’s side somehow blasting over the bar inside the area when it seemed harder to miss a minute before Everton took the lead through ex-Cottager Louis Saha. It was a good bonus for David Moyes to see the Frenchman on the score-sheet and he’ll be wrapping him up in cotton wool as when fit he can be lethal on his day.
We’ve learnt that Owen Coyle now is under serious pressure at Bolton. It’s not that that’s a suprise given his team’s poor start to the season, it’s just that after losing all of thier league games at home this year (five), the Trotters really could do with turning the corner now or face being dragged into early-season six pointers, which is something no manager wants too many of.
Whilst it was disappointing to see Coyle suffer defeat again, at least it came at the expense of Steve Bruce whose Sunderland side gained a massive victory at the Reebok. Two late goals helped what would have been labelled as a ‘dour’ point in a 0-0 draw into a great win that should give the Black Cats great confidence going forward, whch after their bad star is exactly what they need.
Lastly we’ve learnt that Norwich City are not intimated of any of the top teams after their draw against Liverpool, that right now there are few players playing as well as Robin van Persie is, that Roy Hodgson’s West Brom are beginning to turn the corner after recording their first back-to-back league wins of the season, that Swansea City will be kicking themselves after letting slip a 2-0 lead at struggling Wolves to only come away from Molineux with a point that must have felt like a defeat.
By Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87
