Five key points we have learned from another exciting weekend in the Premier League.
With another rip-roaring Premier League weekend gone by, the action has left us again with more questions than answers, but luckily there were several points that spoke for themselves as there were a few surprises that pointed out glaringly obvious shortcomings in certain side’s credentials.
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5. Alan Pardew: job for life
Newcastle’s decision to hand Alan Pardew such a huge contract looks rather shortsighted now. It looked shortsighted back then, too, but what everybody knew would happen is finally happening. Newcastle look desperate at the moment, and cannot muster enough spirit together to get themselves on track, even after a summer of intelligent recruitment on the playing side of things. Following the Magpie’s 4-0 defeat at the hands of Southampton at the weekend, Pardew’s job now looks tenuous, only it will cost the club a huge amount to sack him, giving him some bizarre kind of job security. He’ll never walk, why would he? So it’s up to Mike Ashley to decide how much the club’s Premier League status is worth.
4. Liverpool need back up
Villa beating Liverpool at Anfield is becoming a regular sight these days, but the Reds looked toothless without the dynamic duo of Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling leading the attack. With Champions League football returning to Anfield this season, the need to rest young players like Sterling will be increased, though it appears that Brendan Rodgers is yet to come up with a suitable plan B for when this happens. Liverpool struggled to break down a stubborn Villa side and payed the price for not penetrating their back line enough.
3. Diego Costa is the real deal
When Costa joined the Blues over the summer, many were concerned that he would be another expensive flop like Fernando Torres or Andrei Shevchenko, but just four games into the new campaign and he has already gone a long way to stamping out those comparisons with an impressive haul of seven goals from their opening fixtures. A hat trick against Swansea on Saturday seemed to suggest that he is not here for a holiday and is ready to continue that epic form from Atletico to help re-establish Chelsea as a dominant force in the English top flight once again.
2. Arsenal will never change
Though Arsenal bolstered their attack this summer, Wenger once again overlooked other areas of the squad that needed fixing to avoid instances like Man City’s equaliser on Saturday. After fighting their way back into the game to lead with just ten minutes left on the clock, that soft centre that has blighted the club for so long once again reared its ugly head to let them down at a crucial point of the match. For all the good work that Wenger has done for the Gunners, there is a sense that under him they will never be considered a ‘hard’ team.
1. Man United are back
It was only a matter of time before United got their mojo back, and what better way to do it after you’ve spent a fortune that to bang four goals past a potentially tricky QPR side. One of the new boys, Angel Di Maria, brought a verve and swagger back to the side that has been missing since Cristiano Ronaldo left five years ago, and the side now have an attacking trio to match anyone in the world. Providing the defence can sort itself out, United may very well be back on top in no time.
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