EPL Opening Weekend – How the Title Favorites Fared

By on August 19, 2014

Mind, we had the World Cup to entertain us, but the Premier League off-season was just too much to bear.  What with most of the big transfer deals being done during the World Cup, after the tournament’s end football fans went cold turkey for a month.  But this weekend, the Premier League finally returned.  The ten opening fixtures might have all proved low scoring contests – the biggest goal differential came in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United – but the tight battles, two of which decided by last minute winners, hardly failed to provide entertainment or drama.  Furthermore, it provided a great deal of insight into the coming season.  The top four after just the opening weekend contains the same four clubs as it did last season.  Never judge a book by its cover, but the opening weekend has seemed to prove a lot of points.

Manchester United:
Last season David Moyes kicked off his first Premier League season in charge of United with a 4-1 win over Swansea City.  This season, United again began their league campaign against Swansea, and while it will be hard for Louis van Gaal to prove less successful than Moyes did, the Dutch manager actually lost to the Swans.  Response to the loss was poor even from Van Gaal himself, who claimed that the club simply need “better players.”  Yet Van Gaal wasn’t very far from the truth.  The club’s starting back three consisted of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, and debutant Tyler Blackett – hardly a European competition defense. They were missing multiple players, including Luke Shaw and Robin Van Persie, but what did featured lacked creativity – United’s one goal came from a set piece – and fluidity in Van Gaal’s 3-5-2, which he dropped only halfway through the match for a back four in a 4-2-3-1. Overall United hardly looked convincing; the loss signaled a season of rebuilding is ahead and that another season without Champions League football, or even Europa League play, could be in the offing in 2015/2016.

Chelsea:
For while Manchester United’s season seemed to already be derailed after their first match, Chelsea proved that they will challenge for the title with a 3-1 win over Burnley. Their night began dreadfully as Burnley took an early lead, but fluid quick football was the theme for the Blues the rest of the night. Cesc Fabregas’ assist for their second goal on the night proved the peach of the lot, as Mourinho’s side was just the right balance between creative and tough – be prepared to see Nemanja Matic and Fabregas paired in the middle of Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 throughout the season. Matic was the rock in front of the defense and held the ship together, allowing Fabregas and Oscar to push forward up the middle on attack.

For the majority of the match Chelsea were just coasting, and don’t think this will be the last time that happens. The Blues got off to the exact right start they wanted in order to go ahead and challenge for the title.

Liverpool:
Obviously, Liverpool will need time adjusting to life without Luis. Suarez, that is. Southampton attacked Brendan Rodgers’ side in a thrilling attacking match, but Liverpool’s defense held strong. Promising, with Dejan Lovren at the back, as last season that was by far their weakest area. Throughout the pitch they were creative – Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling both had stellar games in the midfield. Rickie Lambert didn’t look that convincing after coming on as a late sub, but to follow up Suarez is a big job. In the end Liverpool prevailed for the win, but unless Coutinho or Sturridge can fill Suarez’s shoes the club look likely to drop off slightly from their second place finish last season.

Manchester City:
Manuel Pellegrini kept using the word “solid” to describe City’s opener. And the Chilean manager was right – his side was not magical on the day, especially with Sergio Aguero starting on the bench due to his World Cup campaign, but sturdy. Fernando looked good alongside Yaya Toure in a midfield pairing, while the latter proved pivotal on the counter. David Silva and Samir Nasri were adept at adding that final bit of creativity – Nasri assisted City’s first goal, and Edin Dzeko looked clinical. And of course, when Aguero made a late substitute appearance he scored one of City’s two in just over ten minutes on the pitch.

Certainly, City will be challenging to recapture the title they won last season. At full throttle, it looks as though alongside Chelsea they will be title favorites.

Tottenham Hotspur:
Mauricio Pochettino has one main job requirement at Tottenham Hotspur – mesh together a side of brilliant, mostly young, players, into a European level club. Europa League football is a bare minimum while Champions League qualification would be a success. Pochettino now at least has a start. Their win over West Ham United came from a late last minute winner, but considering they were down to ten men for part of the match at least they got the result. West Ham missed a penalty, and while Spurs held well defensively; new signing Eric Dier looked a perfect fit to be the long term replacement for Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul, they seem to be almost lacking in creativity up front. While they did a good job of playing around the West Ham box and in the middle, their play in the box lacked. And worryingly they struggled to get many shots off – Dier’s goal was the one of their only attempts from in and around the box. However, Hugo Lloris was brilliant at the other end and maybe many key saves.

Like many other squads Tottenham are still recovering from the World Cup and having players still rejoining the squad from summer break. Their form may not get going for a while, and while it was hardly pretty at least Tottenham got off to a winning start.

Arsenal:
Mesut Ozil didn’t play as he was trying to regain fitness following the World Cup, as did Olivier Giroud – it was always going to be a rough start for Arsenal welcoming the defensively solid Crystal Palace. And considering that, it was a good start for Arsene Wenger’s men. They looked good up front – Alexis Sanchez was a much needed addition, while Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere combined well in the middle with the former scoring and continuing his fantastic form from last season. The home side kept an absorbent amount of possession, a although Yaya Sanogo looked good a creating chances for himself he seemed to lack composure in his finishing. Eventually Arsenal broke Palace down late on, and though it was far from easy it is hardly a poor start for the club. Moreover, it proved that they can grind out results that will matter if they are to possibly challenge for the title as relative outsiders.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.