It is game week 6 of the EPL
season already and punters are already staking on choice games this week end
hoping to avoid disappointments such as the ones they faced last week in the
game between United v Watford. This preview is strictly about the week- end’s
two star games. One in London and the other in Manchester. Arsenal and Chelsea
face off in what is potentially the week end’s pick of the games while
Manchester United seek redemption over champions, Leicester City.
ARSENAL
V CHELSEA-
The Arsenal v Chelsea game
portends a major tactical battle between Arsene Wenger and Antonio Conte
particularly with the former keen to end his winless duck against his
cross-city rivals. Winless in 9 games against their bitter rivals, Arsene
Wenger would cherish no better 20th anniversary present than the
full points against Chelsea
CONTE’S
MIDFIELD PICK
Antonio Conte had before the
midweek triumph over Leicester in the EFL Cup kept faith with the trio of
Nemanja Matic, Kante & Oscar in a midfield three and boldly omitted
Fabregas. The Spaniard however gave him something to think about with his
goal-scoring heroics against Leicester. Fabregas brings a needed intensity in
the midfield which none of Conte’s picks for that role has. Cesc Fabregas had memorably
set up Diego Costa for the winning goal in this fixture last season and seems
to have a telepathic understanding with the striker. His inclusion tomorrow
would certainly rev up the Chelsea midfield tomorrow. His late inclusion
against Liverpool shows how much creativity they missed in that game.
Hopefully, the coach would have a rethink and throw him in as a joker. Being a
former Arsenal Player, his inclusion would surely unsettle the Arsenal tactics
and maybe ruffle a few feathers. Conte would either sacrifice flair for
compactness or come out all guns blazing to give the fans something to cheer
about. Whichever way, one player who would have a say in tomorrow’s game is Cesc
Sila Fabregas.
DAVID
LUIZ/GARY CAHILL PARTNERSHIP
For all his energy and
industry playing from the back, David Luiz tends to lose the defensive plot
most times with his positional indiscipline and Conte’s hand must have been
forced by John Terry’s injury. It would be interesting to see how he copes with
the pace of Alexis Sanchez or the strength of Olivier Giroud. Conte is known
for his strict insistence on compactness as we saw in his Juve side and his
Italian team at the Euros and would be less than happy with this combo.
Hopefully, the Arsenal Strikers don’t find joy in the obvious weak spot in this
defence.
Alexis/Giroud/Perez
Lucas Perez, the summer
signing from Spain got a brace in midweek and must have handed his manager a selection
headache in the striking position. Olivier Giroud is returning from injury and
Wenger would be keen to start him in view of the physicality of the Chelsea
defenders. If he opts for Alexis up-front, then, Perez might be pushed wide to
the left while Iwobi continues from the right flank where he has helped the
team this season. Giroud might have to come off the bench to change things if
needed.
Granit
Xhaka
The Arsenal midfielder seems
to have bedded in quite seamlessly with his goal-scoring heroics in the last
two games against Hull City in the EPL and Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup and
offers something reminiscent of what they had in Gilberto Silva in terms of
trying shots from distance. The midfield battle with N’golo Kante and Co would
be a sumptuous sight to behold. Hopefully, we see another trade mark long
ranger from the Swiss.
Diego
Costa v Koscielny
Isnt it just amazing how one
player continues to divide opinions on his conduct on the pitch. Diego Costa
escaped an obvious sending off in Chelsea’s first two league games this season
and ended up getting the winners in both. His memorable clash with Gabriel in
the Arsenal defence last season would certainly be fresh in the minds of
Koscielny and Mustafi. The duo must be careful to avoid being riled and goaded
to do something silly like Gabriel did last season and got sent off. Diego
Costa is a handful and would certainly be the centre of attraction tomorrow. How
he manages to court controversies and remains on the pitch is still a mystery.
This match up would be interesting because of the icy calmness of Koscielny but
very few players actually escape Costa’s bait. Hopefully, he keeps his head and
does the job for Wenger.
Manchester
United v Leicester City
How time flies! Two or three seasons ago, this
match would have seen United as clear favourites especially with the eventual Champions languishing in the relegation zone.
The tide has since turned with United employing their third manager in three
years in Jose Mourinho who was sacked by Chelsea in his second stint at the
club. Mourinho made quick fire signings in Eric Baily, Henrikh Mkhitaryan,
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Labille Pogba. Mourinho made an impressive start
winning his first four games including the curtain raiser against Saturday’s
lunch time opponents, Leicester. A depressing derby result had since erased
memories of a swash-buckling start by United and brought back memories of the
past three years which United fans do not want to relive. Pundits and fans
alike have questioned the team tactics and shape after the back to back defeats
by Watford and Feyenoord. United had started the EFL Cup tie against
Northampton in frenetic fashion and were pegged back by a Daley Blind penalty
conceded towards the tail end of the 1st half but came out of the 2nd
45 with more assured, fluid passing by the likes of Herrera and Michael Carrick
who was stringing things in midfield.
The sustained efforts
paid off eventually after Ander Herrera’s long range strike beat the goal
keeper after his earlier effort had come off the upright. Marcus Rashford’s
poacher’s effort late on from an Ander Herrera long pass which beat the goal keeper who was off
his line finally put the game to bed and brought huge sighs of relief from the
United dug out. In contrast, Leicester who were two goals up contrived to lose
an entertaining slugfest against Chelsea before their home fans.
Ranieri rested regulars like Vardy, Slimani
and Mahrez and must have predictably prioritized Saturday’s game. The pace of
Mahrez, Slimani and Vardy would surely trouble United. Where they would have
issues is the middle of the pack where the personnel available have not been
able to replace N’golo Kante in that holding role. The likes of Drinkwater,
Gray and Nampalys Mendi have not been able to replicate Kante’s
performances for the Foxes last season.
The defenders have therefore have to deal with more pressure than they dealt
with last season as we saw in the hammering they received from Liverpool and
later, Chelsea in the EFL cup. Their attack in sharp contrast have been
prolific as we have seen in the champions league after the 3-0 drubbing of Club
Brugge which they followed up with a 3-0 demolition of Burnley. United’s
defence would surely be tested once again when the two sides face off. Ranieri
would be keen to avoid a repetition of the Community shield defeat to United
earlier on. The addition of Islam Slimani
would give the attack more impetus to move forward and cause problems. How
United maintain their shape in the middle of the pack would be key though.
The Wayne Rooney Conundrum
The United Captain has
been slated for his recent shambolic performances for the Red Devils most
notably the game against Watford and Northampton. Rooney was deployed as part
of a midfield three of Pogba, & Fellaini and it backfired terribly. Rooney
was exposed with his positional indiscipline where he drifted from his Number
10 role where he was expected to play to support Zlatan Ibrahimovic upfront to
the central midfield and was found wanting on countless occasions losing
possession, out of pace and out of breath. Rooney has lost a yard or two of
pace and lacks the guile and inventiveness modern day number 10s like Kevin De Bruyne
possess. Rooney is often found far away from his position leaving spaces for
the opposition to explore in their defensive third and cut out the equally slow
Zlatan. At a time in the Watford game, Rooney was deployed to the right
flanks where he could not make a decent
cross into the box.
I read a damning set piece stat on Rooney’s
Corner kicks for Man United indicating the last time United scored from a
corner kick from the captain was in April 2014 and yet, he continues to take
them. Against Northampton in the EFL Cup, Rooney was deployed as a lone striker
to spear head the attack and rewarded his manager by missing two sitters.
Mourinho must have done that with two things in mind; namely; giving him the opportunity
to rediscover his atrocious goal scoring form especially given the fact that
Northampton are a relatively weaker side. Secondly, Mourinho must have deployed
him in that role to assess his attacking options while testing his best
midfield options with the returning duo of Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick to
determine the best midfield partnership for the team. Unfortunately, Wayne
Rooney was characteristically pedestrian.
The United Captain has
cut a frustrated figure and continues to divide opinions among fans and pundits
alike. He has come out to brand talks about his form as rubbish. Jose Mourinho
had in his First press conference declared he would play Wayne Rooney either as
a striker or a number 10. To be able to thrive in either role, a player has to
be lightening quick, inventive, and creative especially for the number 10 role.
With Zlatan having notched up 5 goals in 8 games and the Young Marcus Rashford
following closely with 3 goals , there are only two clear candidates for the
striker role. That leaves Rooney with just the number 10 role.
However, Juan Mata,
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and even Paul Pogba can all thrive in that role and it
therefore begs the question whether United are limiting the attacking talent at
the club’s disposal to please Rooney. Rooney has been guilty of dropping
further deep in midfield but even that position is choked with personnel with
Carrick, Herrera, Fellaini & Morgan Schneiderlin jostling for just two
positions in central midfield. Incidentally, both Herrera and Carrick got well
taken goals in the EFL Cup win. So where do you fit Rooney in the mix?. The
likes of Mata, Mkhitaryan and Rashford have been benched this season to accommodate
Rooney in attack.
Mourinho’s Softness
Mourinho has strangely
kept faith with him and had shockingly left him on the pitch when he huffed and
puffed in midweek and instead removed Memphis Depay for Rashford. Many felt
that this is an indication that Rooney would be dropped from the Leicester game.
United are a team in dire need of creativity as Ibrahimovic who thrives on
supplies has looked largely isolated in the last few games. Mourinho must
therefore have this at the back of his mind when naming his team tomorrow. Mourinho
who is reputed to be ruthless with under-performing players has been
surprisingly soft with the Rooney issue and strongly leapt to his defence
during his Friday presser by stating that it is a United problem and not a
Rooney problem. How he reacts with his selection, tactics and substitutions
would be key on Saturday.
Pogba’s Best Role
Pundits have opined
that Paul Pogba has played with less freedom than he is accustomed to . At
Juve, he had both Claudio Marchisio and Sami Khedira behind him in a midfield 3
to enable him make the forays into the final third. At the Euros, Deschamps
surprisingly deployed him in the holding role with dire consequences for the
team. Mourinho needs to decide the best
tactics to play to get the best out of his record signing and it starts with
deploying the best midfield combination for his team. For all his industry and aerial
prowess, Marouane Fellaini is slow and
lacks the energy and invention to dictate play like the likes of Carrick and
Herrera would do for instance. A fluid passing with intensity is what prolific
strikers like Ibrahimovic and Rashford need to unlock their undoubted
fecundity.
Rooney’s Attitude
For Wayne Rooney, he
has labeled media criticisms that have trailed his performances this season as
rubbish. Whatever Mr Rooney feels about his form, the point is that no one criticizes
a player who plays well. As the highest paid player in the entire league, he
should be doing better for his sake and the sake of the team. Rooney can ontinue to get games so long as his
performances don’t affect the results but there would surely come a time when
his performances would tell on the results and maybe his manager would notice
like the fans have already.
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