Opening week exposes huge chinks in London clubs’ armours
The much awaited Premier League season got off to a rather dodgy start with teams still showing rustiness and players not quite up to the mark. What happens in the opening weekend isn’t normally an indication of the season to follow .
However, it would be slightly ignorant to not notice that the London clubs collectively struggled, with only one club managing to get maximum points.
Last season’s second most improved team - Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs were up against Everton who had Ronald Koeman in charge of his first competitive game. Spurs went behind extremely early when Ross Barkley scored from a free kick in the opening 5 minutes. Spurs did fight back and equalized through Erik Lamela, whose form has been one of the biggest positives for Spurs in the pre-season.
Spurs’ transfer window has been slightly confusing for the fans. Mauricio Pochettino did wonders last seasons albeit for the last 3 games, but he may have been too satisfied with his team as he has only made two additions to the squad, both of which might not be starting players when every player is available.
This show of confidence has raised a few eyebrows, considering most of Spurs’ rivals for the top 4 have improved their teams remarkably. Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama are solid signings, but Spurs might regret mid-way into the season that they did not buy more.
In fact, Spurs could not produce a goal after they equalized on a night when Harry Kane and Dele Alli both underperformed and new signing Janssen failed to score from 5 yards out. This could be a worrying sign because if one of the two heroes from last season fail to perform again after the debacle of the Euros, Spurs might not have players to fill those shoes.
Crystal Palace continue their miserable form from the second half of last season
Crystal Palace managed 2 wins out of 21 and the trend didn’t change in a 1-0 defeat to West Brom. Alan Pardew has made some shrewd signings this summer, getting the underrated Steve Mandanda, a player once tipped to be the next-Gareth Bale - Andros Townsend, and Premier League veteran James Tomkins.
However, the chase for a striker has yielded no results yet as neither Saido Berahino nor Christian Benteke look close to joining. Apart from that, Palace also
Apart from that, Palace also need to replace Yannick Bolasie who has moved to Everton. Performances could go further down if enforcements aren’t bought and Palace could be staring at a possible relegation fight.
West Ham came up against cross-city rivals Chelsea and went down fighting
After a summer where West Ham went searching for a striker all over Europ, they finally decided to buy Andre Ayew from Swansea to get those goals.
Even though Ayew is an attack-minded player who mightily impressed at Swansea last season, he is not an out-and-out striker and West Ham only have the big man, Andy Carroll, who seems to be very one dimensional. West Ham have spent well otherwise, as many have tipped Sofiane Feghouli’s free transfer to be one of the deals of the season.
There are some other issues too, an over-reliance on Dimitri Payet could cost West Ham big time. Another problem is Slaven Bilic deciding to play Michail Antonio as a full-back, which exposes his weak defensive ability and curtails him from playing to his skills, which is attacking.
Fans seem to be baffled as to why he isn’t being played on the wing. If West Ham get a striker in the mould of Carlos Bacca, they could actually go on to do even better than last season. Else, matching last season’s achievements would be their best possible result.
Team from London that impressed the most is undoubtedly Chelsea
Chelsea were lost upfront and had to scrape through to win, but their midfield and defence looked on top. New manager Antonio Conte seems to have settled in seamlessly into his new job. The signing of N’Golo Kante proved effective almost immediately, as his tackling was extremely good.
The decision to drop Cesc Fabregas might’ve been surprising, but Oscar deserved to start considering his pre-season exploits. Diego Costa retains his behavioral traits from last season but also got his scoring boots on, which is probably what Conte is concerned more about.
However, the real problem lies in defense, as an aging John Terry and an underwhelming Gary Cahill don’t look like they can start every game. A move for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly failed to materialise, and Chelsea will need to look faster for alternate targets.
If Chelsea do get another defender, they should challenge for the title but they do look a level below the Manchester clubs in terms of squad quality and depth.
Arsenal were torn to shreds by Liverpool
Arsenal did manage to fight back from 1-4 to 3-4 but the situation only showed Arsenal’s problems are deeper than they look.
Arsenal are already in an injury crisis and the new season is just a couple of days in. Their first choice pairing was Rob Holding and Calum Chambers, which in itself says a lot. Chambers barely started last season and Holding was signed from a team which got relegated from the Championship last season.
To add to their woes, Aaron Ramsey, who starred at the Euros this summer, has also joined the list of injuries and is out for another two months. It seems like there is a deeper problem at Arsenal regarding these injuries which has been either not found out or, is ignored. Things will get better once Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud, and Laurent Koscielny are back, but Arsenal have barely improved from last season.
It’s baffling to see Arsene Wenger not spend, in an age when Everton are spending £25m on a player from Crystal Palace. A deal for Shkodran Mustafi has been talked about for a month now, but it looks like that deal has stalled. Arsenal’s inability in the market is frustrating for the fans, and the blame inevitably falls on Arsene Wenger, who is definitely responsible for Arsenal’s predicament.
Arsenal also have just one recognised striker in Olivier Giroud after talks for both Alexandre Lacazette and Gonzalo Higuain didn’t work out. Lacazette has already started the new season with a hat-trick with Lyon while Higuain became the third most expensive player when his transfer went through.
Till last season, Arsenal were at least regarded as one of the title contenders, but this season, it seems like Arsenal will struggle to be in the top 4. It is sad to see a legend like Arsene Wenger see his career and reputation go downhill after what he has done for the game, but he has only himself to blame.
Boos from the crowd in the twilight of your career is not how he hoped it would come to an end; contrasting compared to how his once-great rival Sir Alex Ferguson exited.