Ahead of every weekend this season I will give you my three thoughts on what’s going on in the Premier League. These might not always be the biggest stories, but rather my personal observations as the games approach each Saturday.
So, Matchday 5, here you go…
Lallana: Klopp’s type of player
Liverpool travels to Chelsea in another Friday tilt, and one that catches the eye immediately. It will be a star-studded affair, with two of the more active sideline managers competing to see who has the best knee slide. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are entertaining, if nothing else, with Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane leading the charge.
Adam Lallana has also enjoyed a strong start to the campaign. The midfielder has been Liverpool’s most consistent performer so far, and as one of the few England internationals who actually came away from Euro 2016 with his reputation intact, it does appear we are beginning to finally see the emergence of Lallana as a top quality footballer.
It wasn’t long ago that Lallana cemented himself as a leader at Southampton, and a player with great vision and energy. Since his 25 million pound move to Liverpool two years ago, he has been a frustrating figure. Injuries have been a major issue, and he was often played out of position.
However, the moment Klopp joined the Reds we have been waiting to see Lallana reach his potential. At Southampton he excelled under Mauricio Pochettino’s high octane, pressing style, so it is no surprise that he is now fitting into Klopps preferred XI seamlessly. With two goals to his name so far this season, he is also hoping to answer his critics who questioned his scoring ability. Lallana has been exceptional, and Klopp deserves some credit for that.
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Gundogan arrives as City take off
I do feel sorry for Pep Guardiola (not really, but bear with me.) Ideally, he just wants a quiet start to his tenure as Manchester City boss, and the time to teach his players their new roles without being scrutinized. The problem is City has looked like the best team in the world over the past month, and Pep looks as if he might well re-invent English soccer.
City have been quite brilliant, perhaps not perfect, but for large chunks of matches they have looked as good as we have seen in the Premier League for some time; and to think Pep has only just started. I could write here how Sergio Aguero is fast emerging as the best goal scorer of the Premier League era, or how Kevin De Bruyne might just be the best player in the English topflight, but instead I’ll just focus on a player who only made his debut this week in City’s emphatic Champions League win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Ilkay Gundogan looked as if he had been playing all season, and all summer and all of last year too. But, in fact, it was his first match in four months! The German midfielder is the key to the system Pep intends to implement, and the fact that City had looked so good without him is nothing short of ominous for the rest of the teams in the Premier League.
Where David Silva now fits into the plans with Gundogan in the lineup is an interesting question, but already the German seems to have a good relationship with Raheem Sterling. Pep’s vision is in its infancy, but as everyone gets healthy, the thrusters are smoking, and the Blue half of Manchester is about to hit the stratosphere.
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Jose the grouch
It hasn’t been the best of weeks for Jose Mourinho. Manchester United were well beaten by rivals Manchester City last weekend at Old Trafford, and then on Thursday they lost away to Feyenoord in the Europa League, albeit via a very suspicious goal.
Of course, if you believed Jose’s pre-match comments the loss in Holland shouldn’t mean too much—he said that his club doesn’t want to play in the Europa League, and that it should‘t have to. I can’t imagine those comments inspired his players on Thursday.
I wonder how UEFA feels about Mourino, who just happens to be a spokesman for sponsor Heineken, denouncing the Europa League? Make your mind up Jose!
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