The Good, The Meh, and the Ugly
Week 1 — Premier League
Gee, have we used variations of this title before? We are the apex of creativity.
In an effort to rebuild my atrophied writing muscles, I looked back on old works for ideas to see if there was something short and sweet I could turn into a series. Before we randomly disappeared like Dave Chappelle, I had an idea to highlight the best, worst, and worstest of the week, throwing in advanced statistics and tactical analysis for emphasis.
Doubling down on the negativity felt mean to me, however. So I decided to champion middling performances—instances that underwhelmed and didn’t meet expectations. I’m cynical enough to pull that off, I think. In the meantime, I hope to create an original title for this damn thing, but as you’ve witnessed on the podcast, there are no guarantees.
The Good
Liverpool
Perhaps I should isolate the Reds into their own “great” category.
What wasn’t to like about their 3–0—err, “4–0” dismantling of the Pellegrini-led Hammers? Klopp’s men hit the ground running, with new-signing Naby Keita seamlessly fitting in and appearing like a natural fit for the style of play that is asked of him, Mo Salah continuing his unbelievable scoring prowess, *cough cough “two”* goals from Sadio Mané, and even James Milner and Andrew Robertson getting assists. For crying out loud, Daniel Sturridge scored a goal twenty seconds in from being substituted on.
West Ham had very few answers for Liverpool’s 4–3–3. Theoretically, Declan Rice was given orders to shadow Salah to help Angelo Ogbonna attempt to stifle the striking star, but that only meant it was open season for Mané, who was terrorizing the back line, and Keita and Robertson effectively dictated play from the left side.
While the offense carried on with its dynamic attack, let’s not forget the defense, which held West Ham to five shots (two on target) and an xG of 0.4. Alisson is the Keeper That Was Promised, and Joseph Gomez has Liverpool fans blissfully forgetting there once was Emre Can manning that position. Liverpool wants to contend for the title this season, and this was a promising start.
Manchester City
Questions abound regarding the new era of Arsenal and whether the Cityzens can carry on their record-breaking for from last season. I believe we got answers for both inquiries, as Manchester City controlled possession for 58% of the match and looked fluid, with Good Benjamin Mendy contributing two assists and Bernardo Mota Veiga de Carvalho e Silva continuing to improve and showcase his value as a midfielder.
My favorite part about this match has to be Raheem Sterling scoring the opening goal less than 15 minutes in. For those living stateside, we were subjected to NBC Sports pundits declaring Raheem Sterling as “not a natural finisher,” looking at his recent World Cup appearance and seeing his one-assist–zero–goal–in–six–appearances performance and continuing the tradition of Sterling bashing. The cut from left-to-right and sneaking a shot past Petr Cech was class, and his disruptive runs opened up opportunities for his teammates. I’m not declaring Sterling as some second coming of Pele, but despite my deep-rooted dislike of Manchester City, it’s difficult for me to not root for him to defy his critics this season.
The Meh
Manchester United
What a boring way to open the 2018–19 Premier League season. Good grief.
After Pogba scored the opening goal off a penalty kick, the match felt like a sloth stuck in molasses. Only four shots were taken by United in the first half, and they were out-possessed by the visitors for the match 53.7–46.3%. Leicester outpaced the Red Devils for most of the match along with an xG of 1.74 (United’s was 1.5), and if it wasn’t for Luke Shaw’s go-ahead goal in the 83rd minute (conveniently scored when I had given up on the match and decided to leave the house not two minutes earlier), United would be in full-blown panic the moment Jamie Vardy’s late goal hit the back of the net.
Honorable mention goes to Daniel Amartey for his boneheaded handball inside the box, allowing United to start in front less than five minutes in.
Everton
After the match, Wolves coach Nuno Espirito Santo said that his squad showed a lot of resiliency and character to pull off a draw in their first Premier League match in six seasons. The Blues invested a lot of money just before the transfer window closed to only cash in a tie along with a 0.71 xG, with Phil Jagielka’s red card minutes before the end of the first half setting the tone for the remainder of the match.
However, it wasn’t all bad for Everton. Richarlison settled in very well down the left flank, scoring two equalizing goals for his new side. A lot of the new signings weren’t readily available for this match, so it’s difficult to determine how this side will eventually look, but things probably could’ve been a lot worse for the blue side of Liverpool to open their season.
The Ugly
Anthony Taylor’s Officiating Crew
Guys. Sadio Mané’s second goal should not have counted. He even looks back and delays his goal celebration because he was expecting the flag to be up when he checked the sideline. Come on.
Arsenal
0.45.
That was the Gunner’s expected goals for their home opener against the defending champions Manchester City—only West Ham and Huddersfield were worse (0.40 each). They were out-possessed 58–42 and had nine shots (three on target) to City’s 17 shots (eight on target). The players still desperately attempted possession football like ghosts of Wenger’s stratagems, and were outmatched by an opponent that actually knew how to play that way. Petr Cech nearly scored an own goal in an attempt to lackadaisically pass to his right. Someone needed to wake up Arsenal and alert them that the season had started. The only good to come from their performance was seeing Piers Morgan continue to be distraught about hit squad.
Will and I are firm supporters of Unai Emery, having seen him in Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain, and believe his system will be a reasonable transition from Wenger’s whatever-you-want-to-call-it tactics. It’s also nice to see a CB pairing of Sokratis and Mustafi, and new signing Lucas Torreira will be a reliable CDM that will jolt the attack alive from the back. However, if Arsenal expect to return to consistent Top 4 finishes as they had previously enjoyed, this wasn’t a promising start.
Patrick Onofre is co-creator of The Challengers Podcast, a soccer website and podcast that discusses the Premier League, the Bundesliga, and La Liga. Listen to their show on iTunes, like them on Facebook, and follow them on twitter — @Challengers_Pod.
