3 major takeaways from the Premier League's opening weekend
The first weekend of the Premier League has come and gone and nobody had a better time than the title favourites. Defending champions Manchester City got a perfect start with a 2-0 win over Arsenal. Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all won their first game of the season further cementing their names as front-runners in the game.
As the second batch of games is already upon us, we look back at three major takeaways from the opening weekend:
#1 The London clubs need time for their transition
The weekend saw Chelsea bagging an easy win against relegation-tipped Huddersfield Town. However, new manager Maurizio Sarri is yet to reach perfect team compatibility. The man himself has accepted that it will take time to adjust squad to his plans for the West London club.
Historically, the Italian played attacking football that hardly exercised caution. And with a particular kind of football, comes a particular set of players. Alvaro Morata who signed for the club last season for a fee of £58 million, hasn’t had the greatest time in England. Morata was eventually bogged down by injuries and was never confident enough to be convincing. Despite Sarri giving the striker a chance, Morata simply does not seem fitting for a role at the new Chelsea.
The Emirates is also witnessing a completely different style, seen in their game against Manchester City. Unai Emery’s style is reflective of a one he’s always favoured - a high defensive press and playing the ball out from the back. That the players will take time getting used to it was evident in their first home game.
Starting Petr Cech over Leno only helped to shed light on the 36-year-old’s inability to play the Emery way. At one point, Cech almost passed the ball into his own net, making watchers, particularly fans, incredibly anxious.
It is clear that the two London club managers have different approaches in mind for their team and are adamant in implementing them as well as they can in the league. This will obviously be accompanied with even more off-loading and buying, despite the close of the transfer window. They both look like they are a few transfer windows and training sessions away until they can say they’ve got a complete, functional squad.