The Fall of the Champions?

It happens every year (or so it seems). One team absolutely dominates the Premier League and wins the trophy with only a slight blip to their season in terms of results or performances. Last season, that was Chelsea. The season before that: Manchester City. And before that: Manchester United. There's definitely a pattern there. Then at the beginning of every new season, journalists and football pundits sit and they put forward their guess of who is going to win the league based on the previous campaign and their business in the transfer window. This season, there was an almost unanimous vote that Chelsea would go from strength to strength, as they had last season, and win the trophy again due to the sheer talent of their squad and the pure genius mind of Jose Mourinho. 

In no way am I saying that they won't win it. The Premier League can be extremely unpredictable at times and throw up shock results that could flip the table on its head at times. The way Chelsea have started the season though, especially in comparison to Manchester City, it doesn't look like they will be as highly rated to retain their title as we head towards winter. City have had a dominating start to the season, which came to an end on Saturday tea time, but before that they won 5 on the bounce and Joe Hart was still to concede a goal this season. Whereas, Chelsea didn't get off to a winning start and their back line, which was so tough to face last season, suddenly looked very shaky and looked a different 4 people to the ones that lined up last season. 

They have only managed two wins since the beginning of the campaign; an unconvincing performance against West Brom who almost managed to take something from the game after Chelsea had a man sent off, and last weekend against 9-man Arsenal. It isn't completely clear why they are struggling as much as they are. They made a few good signings in the summer which coupled with last season's squad could have been unstoppable, but instead of scoring goals for fun and putting on performances to draw out results that fans are used to, they just can't get it right. 

Like I said before though, this isn't the first time it has happened, and Chelsea certainly won't be the last to suffer because of it. There was the title defence of Manchester United the season after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, which was extremely poor and even saw the team drop out of the Champions League places. It was a big change for the team, but nobody could have predicted that their title defence would have been as poor as it was. The following season, Manchester City just couldn't keep up with the dominant force that was Chelsea. It's almost like the pressure of retaining the title is too much for a team no matter how much the manager tries to improve it. 

Anyway, back to Chelsea. Even though they beat Arsenal at the weekend, it was against a team who they had a 2 man advantage over, so some would say it was a much easier game than it could have been. Even though they did record a win over another top team in the league, people weren't left talking about the brilliant performance of the team, or how they did well to take advantage of the game like they would've last season. No, it was Diego Costa that found himself in the headlines again after the game. Unfortunately, once again it was for all the wrong reasons, and it all started through Arsene Wenger complaining about him not being sent off (which he should have been). Costa is an important player for Chelsea even if he isn't scoring goals for them, but has got a hot headed nature in many of the games he's played. So to have him banned after a retrospective investigation is a big loss to the team, especially when they are struggling so much to get the results that they so badly need. 

If you ask me, I think that Mourinho isn't handling the situation very well. He's always been calm in interviews, never loses his head in a bad situation and has a knack for saying exactly what his fans need to hear, but in recent weeks instead of reassuring the fans, he has looks like he has been trying to please everyone, or so it seems. He claimed that he wanted fans of other teams to enjoy his this period while his team are struggling because it was a rare thing to happen to him before tagging on the end that he would sort out the situation. You'd expect any other manager in his situation to put his own fans first, but then again, Mourinho isn't like the other managers. True to his words though, he has given the fans a lift with the win over Chelsea no matter how they got it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I can see Chelsea bouncing back and going on a strong run in the league. Everyone knows they aren't going to stay 15th and be sucked into a relegation battle (if they are, that is certainly one shock that nobody could have seen coming), but it might take them a while to get back into their stride. What looks like the toughest task for them at the moment will be trying to catch up to Man City who, even though they lost at the weekend, have been so strong that it is unlikely Chelsea would be able to catch them to retain their title. It has been said many times before though, it's a long season, and anything could happen.

MATCH REPORT: Manchester United vs Liverpool

Ah, the big rivalry of Manchester United and Liverpool is upon us once again. However, the usual hype that surrounds this game wasn't the same this time around. It was the stories off the pitch that made the headlines instead of what was going to happen on the pitch. Both teams were also without their usual captains in Wayne Rooney and Jordan Henderson respectively. The only question left was whether or not this would be a match as memorable as some of those in the past. None the less, for both sets of fans it is a fixture they look forward to from the moment the new fixture lists are released.

The first half was boring though. United were keeping a lot of possession throughout the half, meaning Liverpool didn't get a lot of time to create any chances. The game lacked the passion that people have enjoyed watching in the past. The passion that the likes of Steven Gerrard or Gary Neville, for example, carried into the game. The home team looked calm on the ball and were playing at a slow pace. The away team though, looked the opposite. At the beginning of the half, the defence and goalkeeper for Liverpool looked extremely nervy and made a couple of mistakes that they could maybe have been punished for. They did grow into the game more as the game went on, but it was extremely tight-knit and neither side had created any clear-cut chances when the whistle blew for half time. 

Both teams did have a half-chance each in the first 45 minutes though. In the 7th minute, Simon Mignolet came out and caught the ball from a cross and decided to try and calmly roll the ball to the defender in front of him. He didn't judge the roll properly though as the ball bounced off Juan Mata's heal and into the path of Marouane Fellaini who rushed his chance and looped the ball over the crossbar, much to the relief of Mignolet. Liverpool's first dangerous move forward came halfway through the half. The first ball into the box was cleared by Luke Shaw but only into the path of James Milner outside the box. He didn't get a clean contact though and could only direct the ball wide of the post with the outside of his boot. 

The second half was a completely different story. United kept a lot of the ball again in the opening moments of the half, but they were moving it with more pace than they had in the first half. Louis van Gaal brought on Ashley Young in place of Memphis Depay, and it was Young's first run towards the Liverpool box that caused the problems. Nathaniel Clyne gave away the free kick by blocking him off just outside of the box. Mata takes the free kick and squares it back across to the middle of the box where Daley Blind was waiting to fire his shot first time into the top corner of the net without any pressure from the Liverpool players. 

At the other end of the pitch 10 minutes, the other goalkeeper also made a mistake. David de Gea, who made his return to the team after signing a new four year deal, cleared the ball poorly and it landed at the feet of Lucas who played the ball neatly to Clyne before Roberto Firmino had the chance to cross the ball into the box, but United cleared it eventually after some messy defending. They had another chance not long after when Dejan Lovren played his header forward to Danny Ings on the edge of the six yard box. The forward didn't make great contact with the ball, but he still forced de Gea into making a great save to turn the ball out. 

After the goal, Liverpool threw a lot more into their attacking moves and they were agonisingly close just after the hour mark. Milner swung his corner in and Martin Skrtel got the first flick before Ings directed it towards the centre of the goal where Blind cleared the ball off the line and back into play. It was Firmino with the follow up chance from point-blank range and he looked like he might be able to put it into the back of the net but instead he puts it wide of the post he is stood next to. 

So, Liverpool didn't take their chances, but Ander Herrera certainly took his. Shortly after that chance for Liverpool, Michael Carrick played a forward ball to Herrera who made a run into the box when Joe Gomez goes to ground and takes Herrera with him to give away the penalty. After winning the spot kick, Herrera stepped up to take it and emphatically hits it into the roof of the net to double United's lead. Mignolet did go the right way, but there was nothing the keeper could have done to stop it. 

This really forced Liverpool to inject some pace into their game. Following the penalty, they had a lot more chances to try and make a comeback within the match. Milner set up the first chance after being left in a lot of space on the right wing to put in the cross and found Christian Benteke, who had a miserable beginning to the match, but he put his header wide. Jordan Ibe caused a few problems for Shaw down the right side and for his chance, came inside onto his left foot and curled the ball around to the far side of the goal, but de Gea pulled off a great save to turn it out for a corner. 

The corner was played across the pitch to Ibe on the right who instantly put a cross into the box. Blind got up and headed the ball, but couldn't get any distance on his clearance. It was that header that carried the ball into the path of Benteke on the edge of the six yard box and he twisted in the air to fire his overhead kick into the back of the net, giving the keeper no chance of saving it. Liverpool had looked dangerous in the moments leading up to the goal, so it looked like they might just be able to pull another goal back before the end of the match. 

This wasn't the case though. United's new signing, Anthony Martial was introduced to play midway through the second half but didn't see much of the ball at the beginning of his debut. Only minutes after Benteke's goal though, Young played him in around the halfway line and the teenager made a darting run into the Liverpool penalty area, weaved his way past three Liverpool defenders without any trouble and curled his side-footed shot under the keeper and into the far bottom corner of the net; effectively finishing the game off for the home side. 

At the beginning of the match, it was said that both managers were under some pressure, and if that is the case, then some more might have just been heaped onto Brendan Rodgers. He went to Old Trafford with a defensive set-up in mind, but when it came to his attacking tactics, they didn't look very strong. Unlike Liverpool sides of old, they didn't look like they were there to take the game by the scruff of the neck and going to win. However, the latter end of the second half might have been a slight positive to take from the game in an attacking sense. For United, it looks like they will see their new signing in the headlines in a positive light following the match after a lot of pressure had been put on Martial due to the price tag he carried. One thing is for sure though; he has already made his mark on the Premier League. 

Rooney in the Spotlight

Wayne Rooney is a name that has been spread across the back pages for around a month now and on the lips of everyone in the media when they talk about football. It hasn't exactly been good press either, most of the time with pundits and journalists wondering where his next goal is going to come from or whether he is actually good enough to play in a centre forward role anymore. He has, of course, scored goals for Manchester United in the Champions League but has come up short in the Premier League making these claims get louder by the week. 

When it came to the international break though, people were talking about him for a completely different reason. He has been so close to breaking the England goal-scoring record for quite a while now, so every time he pulls on an England shirt that is the only thing people can focus on. He's finally answered all the demands that were directed his way by not only equalling the record, but also by overtaking it to be the all-time record England goal scorer and the first man to ever score 50 goals for his country (congratulations to him).

After all the negative press surrounding him in recent weeks, it's refreshing to hear his name in a positive light. I think everyone expected him to score in the game against San Marino, which he did, but then people also expected him to get more than the one in the game. It was clear after the match that when Roy Hodgson decided to substitute him, people were questioning why he hadn't been allowed to finish the match and break the record in that game. It needs to be said as well that by equalling the record in the San Marino game, it means that he did it in as many games as Sir Bobby Charlton, which is another great achievement in itself. 

He couldn't have chosen a better stage to break the record though. Switzerland were tough opponents and it took England until midway through the first half to break the deadlock through Harry Kane. It was 6 minutes from the end when the moment everyone was waiting for came though. Raheem Sterling made a run into the penalty area and got taken down and the referee awarded a penalty almost instantly. As soon as he pointed to the spot, you could tell there was a change in the air around Wembley Stadium. For the first time as far as I can remember Rooney actually looked nervous as he stepped back in preparation for the spot kick, but the second he saw it hit the back of the net, you could see the pride and the emotion on his face. I'm pretty sure he got a standing ovation as well (a well deserved one if you ask me). 

It wasn't even just the one record that Rooney broke yesterday. He became the first England player to score in 7 consecutive competitive international games (a post-war record) and the penalty took him to his 300th goal for club and country combined. He's also been tipped by his fellow England team mates and the manager to get even more goals and has been named the talisman - all of this happened after the match. Since Saturday, the media have been raving about how Rooney is such a great goal scorer, when a week before they were complaining about some of his poorer performances at the beginning of the season.

My point is, whenever Rooney has a bad game, people are quick to jump on the bandwagon and pile more and more pressure onto him. They count down the minutes since he last got a goal, pick apart every performance he's ever done and then when he doesn't perform well in the next match, they question why. I don't think Rooney ever lets the opinions of others affect him personally, but what if he did? It would certainly explain why he struggled sometimes on the pitch. Then when he puts in a good performance one match and maybe has an off-game the next, suddenly his good performance becomes the 'one-off'. In this day and age, people are too quick to judge the players on the pitch. I'm not saying fans only call out Rooney, because that isn't true, but piling pressure onto players, young or experienced, can't be good if it gets inside their heads. Personally, I think the fans should show their support for the player instead of slating him and then making a 180 during the next match. Then again, I have a feeling that won't be happening any time soon.

So, if everything carries on as normal, and Rooney doesn't score against Liverpool at the weekend, I guess his performance and achievements over the last 5 days will soon be forgotten, and we will be back to hearing how he's losing his touch as a centre forward. If that is the case, it was nice while it lasted...

Transfer Overload?

So, as the transfer window in Britain came to a close yesterday, a few big stories made their way onto the back pages. There was of course, the carry-ons of the big stories that have been circulating around the footballing world for the past two or three months, and then some surprises that the fans weren't expecting. The fans were expecting something from their clubs on this day though as they always are. 

The biggest transfer story over Monday and Tuesday was the collapse of a deal between Manchester United and Real Madrid. This is a deal that has been in the news since about January, sometimes in glaringly obvious articles and other times just subtle hints as people guessed what would happen on the market. This was one of the deals that everyone expected to happen, including the United fans who genuinely thought they would see their keeper leave in this window. If that was the case, it seems to be a mystery that Real didn't make a bid that would make United happy earlier in the window instead of leaving it so late. By Monday night, it looked like people would be waking up to see David de Gea standing in Madrid with his new shirt in hand telling everyone how happy he is to see the deal happen. Only that wasn't the case. Both clubs are pointing the finger at each other when asked who was late with the paper work, so it doesn't look like there will be actual answers any time soon. To add to all of this, it is now said he is thinking about signing a contract extension and will be reintegrated into the team. I don't think you'll ever see an opinion change as quickly as that for a long time again...

Then of course there was the constantly rejected bids from both Chelsea and Tottenham for John Stones and Saido Berahino respectively. Everton dealt really well with the advances from Chelsea and turned down all of the bids with seemingly easy decisions. There was some confusion at one point when Stones handed in a transfer request that wasn't a transfer request, but the news quickly blew over and he still seems to be an important player for him team as they move forward. 

Berahino was another story. Now, I've been told that we shouldn't judge him too harshly due to a rough childhood and that he should be better protected by his agent instead of being allowed free reign when it comes to social media and the press. He obviously isn't happy at West Brom, as he has made clear in the not so distant past, and he wants to move onto "bigger things". However, there is probably a right way to do it, and many people would agree that it is not by sending out a rash tweet while you're angry stating you never wants to play for them again. He's been given time off (most likely to think about what he's said and cool down a little bit) but it'll be interesting to see what comes of him in the next few weeks. 

There obviously were deals that actually happened that got the fans excited, and not just sat staring at their phones and TV screens to see how the drama played out. Watford had a lot of new players come into the squad (15!), not big name signings, but players that show a lot of potential to shine for their team if they can get them to gel properly. Stoke was another team to add a lot of names to their squad list, including the good signing of Xherdan Shaqiri who got his first game for them recently. Again, if they can get the team to gel, they look like they might be in with a good chance of pushing for a top table finish. 

Then, there was the big spenders at Manchester City. Over the recent seasons, they have been known to splash their cash on some great quality players, and this season looks to be no different. Raheem Sterling was another well talked about transfer in the lead up to the window, and City pulled together the deal really quickly so they would have him ready for their pre-season. He seems to have settled in really well, and got his first goal for the club recently, and has already forged a partnership with David Silva that looks very dangerous. Then there was the other big money signing of Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg a couple of days before deadline day. He was another player with a lot of speculation surrounding him, and it seems the club pulled through. On top of that, they managed to snatch the deal of Nicolas Otamendi who looked on his way to their city rivals and Fabian Delph. After an already sparkling start to the season and a strong intake of players, it looks like City could be on their way to another brilliant season. 

Speaking of Fabian Delph, in some ways it looked like Aston Villa might struggle after some of the players they lost. Delph was the captain last season and they also lost Christian Benteke to Liverpool; two of their best players leaving early on in the window. However, Tim Sherwood did some good business to rest his fans at ease. He strengthened the defence, firstly by bringing in Micah Richards at the beginning of the window and on deadline day, adding Joleon Lescott as well. It was a signing up front though that proved to be worth it. Rudy Gestede coming in from Blackburn looks like he might just be able to fit into the space that Benteke vacated. On his debut, he managed to lead Villa to a win, and if he stays fit and can find a constant rhythm in his form, it looks like he will be in for a good season. 

Swansea were another team that made a great signing when it came to the forward position. Andre Ayew, a free transfer, has already scored in three of his first four appearances which isn't a particularly easy thing to do, but it proves to be even more impressive when you realise that two of those appearances were against Manchester United and last season's champions Chelsea. There are of course other players brought in by Gary Monk, but Ayew has certainly got that star quality that not a lot of people would have expected from him. So far though, he has been brilliant and if he pulls more performances like that one out of the bag, then a lot of football fans will be clamouring to watch him. 

As last season's champions, a lot of people expected Chelsea to bring in some reinforcements for an already brilliant squad. Last season they looked almost unstoppable, and although many fans expected them to start right where they left off, it doesn't seem to have quite happened like that. A stand out from his debut for them was Pedro who they brought in from Barcelona, and having scored on his debut in a match that Chelsea won (not as comfortably as they thought they would in the end though), it looked like they might have just found another quality player to help them with the goals this season. They also brought in Radamel Falcao, who scored his first goal for them at the weekend, so their attacking options are looking particularly strong. They maybe could have done with another defender being brought in. Even though they were solid last season, it doesn't look to be the same this time out. They tried and failed to secure Stones, but maybe with the power and confidence of their forward players, their defence will get back up to the expected heights. 

Manchester United saw a host of new players come into the club, but it was the long list of players that left the club that had people talking about that as much as the de Gea saga. The British record transfer signing Angel di Maria had insisted that he would be staying at the club instead of leaving after a relatively lacklustre first season at the club. However, it all seems to have been an empty promise as he left for Paris Saint Germain pretty early on in the transfer market. The United fans also saw two of their strikers leave in Robin van Persie for Fenerbache and fan favourite Javier Hernandez for Bayer Leverkusen. It seems that Hernandez especially struggled to earn a place under Louis van Gaal after he was also loaned out to Real Madrid last season. Van Gaal also chose to send Adnan Januzaj out on loan to Borussia Dortmund after assuring fans he wouldn't be leaving the club, but he will be back next summer as there is no option to buy at the end of the deal. So, van Gaal is clearly marking United as his own as he works to building his perfect side that could win the title. The list of departing players is more than likely to carry on growing though as time goes on. 

Arsenal always seem to leave their big money signings until the last minute, leaving their fans guessing up until the dying moments. Sometimes it looks like there might be nothing happening before the news filters through that a big name player or one with a lot of potential has turned up at their training ground or is heading to his medical; kind of like the deals of Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck. This year though, something felt different. They brought in Petr Cech very early in the season, who is a great keeper and looked like he would give the solidarity at the back (first match aside that is). While Arsenal fans waited as the minutes counted down to the deadline, nothing else was happening and when it closed, they only had one new name on their team sheet. There was of course rumours about Karim Benzema and Edison Cavani possibly putting pen to paper, but the rumours fizzled out pretty quickly. Arsene Wenger is clearly happy with the squad he has though, and it will be good to see if his belief in them truly pays off. 

I feel like there is so much here that I haven't had chance to comment on, but the amount of players moving between clubs is too much to keep up with, coupled with the amount of rumours flying around. It looks like some fans are still unhappy with the signings not made at their clubs though, depending on whether or not that marquee signing did or didn't show up at their training ground. And with another record breaking spending (£870million!) it looks like the transfer market is growing ever bigger as the years go back. Now though, the stress is over and the fans can relax and finally enjoy the football with the knowledge that their favourite player is still going to be wearing that team's kit as the weeks go by.