1) Easily bullied Giroud fails to deliver again
There were plenty of disappointments for Arsenal in their defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Mesut Özil faded after his early goal, Aaron Ramsey was anonymous, Danny Welbeck had a couple of flashes, Santi Cazorla was unable to exert his usual influence and Olivier Giroud once again failed to step it up in a big game. Giroud is a good player and he sometimes scores good goals. Yet he tends to do it against the lesser teams and Arsenal have rarely been able to rely on him against tougher opponents. Arsenal needed someone to relieve the pressure for them, yet Giroud was dominated by Jan Vertonghen and Eric Dier and the ball just kept coming back at them. The Frenchman, whose assist for Özil’s goal looked unintentional, was bullied for most of the game and spent too long pleading for free-kicks – and before you say it, the way he played against Tottenham makes his goal against Manchester City feel like the exception rather than the norm. Giroud clearly has ability, but he has to contribute more. Jacob Steinberg
• Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Arsenal
• Kane enters Spurs folklore as England future beckons
2) Milner deserves a more central role
- Appearances
- 21
- Free Kicks
- 11
- Corners
- 39
- Crosses
- 60
- Assists
- 5
Now is the time for James Milner to be given a chance in his preferred central midfield position. Automatic selection continues to elude the 29-year-old, who started Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hull City on the bench before entering on 66 minutes and grabbing the added-time equaliser. Milner was bought in the summer of 2010 on the strength of his performances for Aston Villa in the middle of the park but has since become an auxiliary wide player. Whenever he is asked, central midfield is offered as his best position. Fernando, the £12m signing from Porto in the close season, has proved a clumsy operator – he was replaced at half-time against Hull – and Fernandinho continues to suffer a World Cup hangover from Brazil’s 7-1 humiliation by Germany.
A central pairing of Milner, who could hold and break up play, alongside Yaya Touré, who could scheme and run at the opposition, is surely worth a look as City try to defend the championship from seven yawning points behind Chelsea. Jamie Jackson
Manchester City 1-1 Hull City
Daniel Taylor: Lampard’s New York City – the making of a team no one has yet seen
3) Noble the best uncapped English Premier League player
There were so many things for West Ham fans to enjoy at Upton Park. The spectacle of Louis van Gaal putting Marouane Fellaini up front, as the Premier League’s favourite total football egghead stuck the big man up top in a last attempt to break down Sam Allardyce’s short-passing Hammers. The speed and combination play of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho. Not to mention the general fluency of a team that, like Manchester United, is also in transaction. Best of all, though, was the performance of a player who has been at Upon Park for 15 years, and who was the steadiest midfielder on either side. Aged 27, Mark Noble still seems to be on a gradual upward curve. An astute, robust central midfielder, Noble is surely the best uncapped English Premier League player around right now. Indeed, of the team Noble captained to the final of the 2009 Uefa under-21 championships, nine others have played for England (Joe Hart, Theo Walcott, Fraizer Campbell, Kieran Gibbs, Micah Richards, Jack Rodwell, Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner, Adam Johnson) while Noble has still to make the squad. A lack of speed is perhaps the only real weakness in his game. Against this he offers intelligence, fine passing and defensive solidity. Noble may or may not get a call from here or indeed end up declaring for Ireland. What is certain is he is having a moment of grace after two fine seasons, a player of quiet craft performing at his peak, and the type who can make a more diffuse, expensively assembled team click together. Barney Ronay
• West Ham 1-1 Manchester United
• Barney Ronay: United’s total football fails to bring out best in Rooney
• Allardyce calls Manchester United a ‘long-ball team’
• United in negotiations with De Gea over new contract
4) Enthusiasm is waning as Leicester’s hard-luck stories mount
The drama at Leicester on Sunday night, with Nigel Pearson first appearing to lose his job, then appearing to keep it makes clear that something is not right at the club. But whatever one’s opinion of Pearson as a tactician, or of his recruitment, the City manager has been sending out teams that have looked as though they still believe they can stay up. The supporters recognise and appreciate this, but while not despairing, their enthusiasm has understandably been waning, because the only alternative conclusion is that they are simply not good enough. The result is that the atmosphere has become apprehensive rather than inspiring.
It was Groundhog Day again at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, as Leicester City turned in yet another wholehearted, determined, have-a-go performance during which they had their opponents on the ropes for long periods but ended up losing to a sucker punch. City fans know what to expect now, and the disbelief when David Nugent intercepted a back-pass, dribbled around Julián Speroni, decided the angle was now too narrow to turn the ball into the goal and tried to cut it back to Esteban Cambiasso, only to hit it too firmly for the Argentinian to control, contained elements of resignation and black humour. Richard Rae
• Leicester City 0-1 Crystal Palace
• Pearson clings on to Leicester job after night of confusion
• Pearson plays down drama after touchline tangle with McArthur
5) Can’s defensive instincts serve Liverpool well in derby
Let’s be kind and give credit for stalemate in the 224th Merseyside derby to the impressive defensive performances on display rather than the cautious tactics and basic errors that littered a sterile affair. John Stones did a fine job of restricting Raheem Sterling’s threat, and then Daniel Sturridge’s when he entered proceedings, and it is no coincidence that Everton are unbeaten in the 11 games he and Phil Jagielka have completed together. “Some partnerships give you great solidity and are very important,” said Roberto Martínez on Saturday. “They bring something that sets our way of playing in a strong way.” The stand-out defender on the pitch, however, was a midfielder, Emre Can. Liverpool’s £9.8m summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen has only just turned 21 and produced his strongest performance for Brendan Rodgers’ team at Goodison Park, at one point appearing to give a thumbs-up to Martin Skrtel as he turned Romelu Lukaku inside and out. Jordon Ibe’s impressive derby introduction may have stolen some headlines from the Germany under-21 international but his assured, confident display – a Rolls-Royce of a performance, according to his manager – was one of the few highlights at Goodison. Andy Hunter
6) Mourinho plays down lead but Chelsea look assured at the top
If the shoe were on the other foot, it would have been easy to imagine José Mourinho playing a few mind games and suggesting that the title race was all over in the wake of a seven-point lead opening up at the top. The Chelsea manager was not, however, going to say anything that would hint of complacency, run the risk of his players getting carried away and provide motivation for Manchester City. Mourinho described that gap as “nothing” and stressed how results are more unpredictable in the Premier League than anywhere else. Whether he was saying those words for effect or genuinely believed them, it seems almost inconceivable that Chelsea – a Mourinho Chelsea team no less – will allow City to chip away at that lead and overhaul them in the same way that Roberto Mancini’s side did to Manchester United three years ago. With Cesc Fàbregas due to return against Everton on Wednesday and Diego Costa back from suspension after that game, Chelsea should only get stronger. Perhaps more than anything, though, City do not look capable of stringing together a run of results to turn up the heat on a manager who seems hell-bent on bringing the Premier League title back to Stamford Bridge. Stuart James
7) Can Fletcher stop Berahino becoming the next Morrison?
- Appearances
- 23
- Goals
- 9
- Shots
- 56
- Shots on target
- 32%
- Offsides
- 15
If anyone was wondering why Tony Pulis gave a two-and-a-half-year contract to a footballer who last played anything remotely resembling a full season in 2010-11, the answer was supplied after Darren Fletcher made his debut. The West Bromwich Albion head coach revealed he saw his latest recruit as part midfielder, part mentor, a player who can use his influence in the centre circle and the dressing room alike.
His greatest task will be to put Saido Berahino on “the straight and narrow”, to use Pulis’s phrase. The striker’s recent interview, when he declared his intention to move to bigger and better things, followed a conviction for drink-driving. Suggestions of attitude problems have accompanied Berahino since he broke into the West Brom team and there is no doubt that many have a vested interest in seeing him join a bigger club. Pulis believes Berahino, who lost his father at an early age, has lacked positive role models and railed at the agents, entourages and assorted hangers-on who seek to benefit from the emergence of a major talent. Berahino, he believes, has an unfortunate habit of listening to the wrong people. Fletcher, one of the game’s more grounded characters, has been charged with giving Berahino better advice.
The problem, as Fletcher can testify, is that sometimes precocious talents show a reluctance to learn. Part-way through Fletcher’s Albion debut, in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Burnley, news broke that West Ham had cancelled Ravel Morrison’s contract. The midfielder is yet to fulfil the promise he showed when he was at Manchester United with Fletcher. Morrison’s career should represent a cautionary tale to Berahino. That does not necessarily mean he will learn the lesson. Richard Jolly
• Burnley 2-2 West Brom
• Morrison leaves West Ham after club terminate contract
8) Rangers need a short-term sharp improviser
Queens Park Rangers’ owners have talked up their vision of the future as they deliberate over the appointment of a replacement for Harry Redknapp, declaring that they intend hiring someone who will integrate the club’s best youngsters into the first team. A noble long-term plan, to be sure, but to avoid relegation this season Rangers need someone with quickfire improvisational skills akin to those of MacGyver, the old American TV action hero renonwed for his ability to rapidly fashion deadly weapons from unpromising tools. Lock MacGyver in a garden shed and he would burst out a couple of minutes later in a battle tank made from a wheelbarrow and paint cans. That is what QPR’s manager needs to do, demonstrating a hitherto unseen resourcefulness.
There were glimmers of hope against Southampton: Rangers gained in solidity as the match progressed even if they lost to a goal in stoppage time, and Chris Ramsey’s plan to harness the creativity of the likes of Adel Taarabt and Matt Phillips indicated that Rangers could become less predictable and more incisive. But they will have to do so pronto. Oh, and in addition to rehabilitating the club’s main creative talents, Ramsey and/or the new full-time manager will have to find someone other than Charlie Austin to put the ball in the net, at least against Sunderland on Tuesday, owing to the foot injury suffered by the player who has scored more than half of the team’s league goals this season. Bobby Zamora does not seem suited to the style that Ramsey sought to cultivate against Southampton, so Eduardo Vargas will have to rediscover his form or Mauro Zárate, who impressed during his half-an-hour on the pitch on Saturday, will have to help save the club that tried to hand him back to West Ham United on transfer deadline day. Paul Doyle
• QPR 0-1 Southampton
• Clement withdrawal leaves way clear for Sherwood
9) Kevin Friend made the wrong decision for the right reasons
Jack Colback should have been sent off for two yellow card offences – namely fouls on Marc Muniesa (booked) and Victor Moses (let off) – during Newcastle’ United’s 1-1 draw at home to Stoke City on Sunday. Minutes after Kevin Friend turned a blind eye to the challenge on Moses, Colback shot Newcastle ahead. With some justification, Mark Hughes said the referee had not been strong enough or brave enough to send off a player wearing black and white at St James’ Park. It is hard to disagree – even Colback said he caught Moses and could “not have argued” had he seen red. And yet … the former Sunderland midfielder is a fabulous, much underrated player. In his typical, quiet fashion he had a good game, sensibly filling in at left back on occasions when Massadio Haïdara and Sammy Ameobi left that flank exposed and invariably used the ball sensibly. Always competitive but never niggly or remotely nast, Colback wants to win but never sets out to hurt anyone and consistently refrains from whinging when things go wrong. Moreover, he’s blesses with a lovely left foot, is positionally astute and a much better passer than often given credit for. On a human level, he’s a really nice person. “Low maintenance” as Alan Pardew used to put it. Small wonder Friend was seduced. Newcastle’s scorer was lucky here but the English game needs more Jack Colbacks. Louise Taylor
• Newcastle United 1-1 Stoke City
• Newcastle team is chosen by me alone, says Carver
• Steve Harmison goes from Ashes to Ashington as football manager
10) Defoe defies the doubters
Gus Poyet’s claim that Jermain Defoe can become a prominent England striker again might be stretching it a little, but the Sunderland manager has reason to believe he can get good value from a £70,000-a-week signing that attracted some derision when it was made last month. Defoe scored his second Premier League goal in three starts for Sunderland at Swansea, a strike that meant he had scored against every current top-flight side in his career, and his arrival has certainly coincided with an improvement in Sunderland’s form. In a side that has often lacked attacking spark in recent times, Defoe’s finishing instincts could prove an attractive asset. Sunderland’s Premier League place has looked a little more secure since the striker’s arrival, and though a Wembley appearance for Defoe in an England shirt is unlikely this season, might one in the FA Cup be worth a bet? Tom Davies
