Although Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Leeds, Brighton and Crystal Palace all lost, the weekend’s action gave managers plenty to chew on – and every Premier League manager will see the two-week break as a reasonable time to sit back and reflect on the first two and a half months of the campaign. With that in mind, Sportsmail has assessed all the major talking points from this weekend’s top flight, summarizing ten things we learned from the seven matches. Brendan Rodgers suffered another humiliating defeat as Leicester were beaten 6-2 by Tottenham Hotspur.
The son is back with a vengeance
Tottenham Hotspur superstar and Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min started the campaign in a rotten form, causing many fans to lose patience with his poor performances. Perhaps annoyed by the £60m arrival of Brazilian striker Richarlison, who has since been competing with the South Korean for a place on the left wing, Son looked a shadow of the player he produced last season, with no goals and just one assist in his debut six. championship games. As a result, Spurs boss Antonio Conte handed the 30-year-old his first bench of the season at the weekend against Leicester – and it proved to be just the wake-up call Yoss needed. Out-of-form Son Heung-min came off the bench to score a stunning hat-trick against the Foxes The winger replaced Richarlison with a point to prove in the 59th minute, scoring a quick-fire hat-trick past the Foxes to fire Conte’s side to a 6-2 victory. It was as if Sean was perusing the Tottenham fan forums during the first half, absorbing the criticism. After weaving through the Leicester defense to score his first long-range stunner, the wounded animal simply waved at the home fans modestly and sincerely, as if apologizing for his recent run. And just in case a wonder goal wasn’t enough to clinch the point, the South Korean rifled in a second, this time with his left foot, before completing the hat-trick four minutes from time.
Guardiola knows what to say to inspire Grealish
After launching a passionate defense of club record signing Jack Grealish earlier this week, Pep Guardiola was rewarded with a superb performance from the England star. As critics flock to point to Grealish’s unassailable goal and assist record since arriving at the Etihad, the Manchester City boss reassured the 27-year-old by publicly insisting he is “happy” with his performances. Grealish took just 55 seconds to thank Guardiola for his vote of confidence, converting Kevin De Bruyne’s smart assist against Wolves at Molineux. Jack Grealish scored after just 55 seconds to repay Pep Guardiola’s faith and patience in him Just over half an hour later, the winger equalized a deadly challenge from Nathan Collins that led to a red card, helping the champions to a comfortable 3-0 win. With Grealish set to embark on international duty with England, it was just the confidence boost the former Aston Villa star needed. Although Guardiola needs him to emerge as a star at City this season, with Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus having left the Etihad, the Spaniard’s patience with Grealish is paying off.
The Southgate snub was the reality check Mings needed
It’s been a strange start to the season for Tyrone Mings, who was first stripped of the captaincy by Steven Gerrard and then left for new signing Diego Carlos before rediscovering his place in the team. Only recovered thanks to Carlos’ long-term injury, Mings has shown a noticeable drop in confidence on the training pitch as a result, according to the Aston Villa manager. Gerrard admitted his captain had become “quieter” in the dressing room. Due to Villa’s failure and failure to keep a clean sheet so far this weekend, the centre-back has been withdrawn by Gareth Southgate ahead of England’s Nations League games with Italy and Germany. Tyrone Mings put in a strong defensive display after losing his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad Eager to win back Southgate’s favour, Mings put in a commanding performance against Southampton on Friday, leading his side to a 1-0 victory. His strong and attacking display will no doubt have caught the eye of the England manager as he continues to gauge which centre-half should be on the plane to Qatar. Marc Guehi, John Stones, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Fikayo Tomori and Harry Maguire have all been called up for international duty on this occasion. If Villa can keep knocking teams out, Mings has every chance of earning his place back before the World Cup.
Fulham can score a lot without Mitrovic
With record scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic leading the line, Fulham would be forgiven for centering their entire attack around their star striker. In many ways, they already do, but the Cottagers proved on Friday against Nottingham Forest that they can still find the net without the Serb on the scoresheet. After Mitrovic scored 43 goals in the Championship last season, it was clear that teams would try to cancel the 28-year-old at all costs, even if it meant giving extra space to Fulham’s support players in forward areas. Fulham prove they can still be dangerous without Aleksandar Mitrovic on the scoresheet Tosin Adarabioyo’s second-half equalizer was a case in point. As Ryan Yates and Scott McKenna latched onto Mitrovic from the corner — even squeezing the striker in the process — the Fulham centre-half was able to evade Yates and curl a simple header past Dean Henderson. New signings Joao Palhinha and Willian then combined for the second goal before defensive midfielder Harrison Reed was able to meet Bobby Decordova-Reid’s cross in the penalty area to grab the third. If Silva’s side have shown anything in the opening seven matches of the season, it’s that they are far from a one-man team.
O’Neil is smarter than he first appears
Many raised eyebrows when Scott Parker was axed by Bournemouth so early in the season, but the south coast club have since managed to turn the tide.
Much of that is down to interim boss Gary O’Neil, who has done everything right if he wanted to take over permanently after the international break.
While the Cherries chiefs are still likely to opt for a manager with more experience, O’Neil has shown a clear tactical awareness since taking over on an interim basis, none more so than in the 1-1 draw against Newcastle on Saturday.
Gary O’Neill made some smart changes in Bournemouth’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle.
After the ecstasy of taking the lead during the game through Philip Billing, Bournemouth equalized from the penalty spot just five minutes later – and it looked like the Magpies would go on to grab a winner.
But O’Neil made a handful of smart late changes to freshen up the personnel and stem Newcastle’s attacking flow.
After replacing Marcus Tavernier with 22-year-old Jaidon Anthony to help with wing tracking, the interim boss brought in right-back Jack Stacey for striker Ryan Christie to bolster the defence.
He then made two further changes in stoppage time to further frustrate Newcastle and hold on for a 1-1 draw.
Schmeichel’s departure punishes Leicester
Winless and bottom of the Premier League, it’s fair to say Leicester have had an abysmal start to the season. Despite the disastrous run of form, the Foxes are actually in the top eight for goals scored this season, proving that their woes have mainly been in defence. Leaving team captain and star goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to Nice on a free transfer seemed a puzzling decision at the time, and after the first seven games it proved to be a disastrous decision. Leicester are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League following the departure of Kasper Schmeichel Brendan Rodgers has urged Leicester’s preparations that Leicester have been blessed with a ‘No 1 goalkeeper’ in Danny Ward waiting on the wing, but the 29-year-old has shown he is unable to match Schmeichel’s presence, at least in the short term. After the 6-2 rout of Tottenham on Saturday, Ward has conceded 22 league goals from just 43 shots, meaning the Welshman has conceded more than 50 per cent of the attempts he has faced. Rodgers has a big decision to make on whether to bring in new backup stopper Daniel Iversen after the international break.
Leaky Forest has a problem
Fan entertainment is undoubtedly important in football. Scoring goals is also essential. Despite somewhat achieving both of these things so far, Nottingham Forest’s leaky defense alone earns them a ticket back to the Championship. Following back-to-back 3-2 away defeats to Premier League newcomers Bournemouth and Fulham, Steve Cooper’s side sit 19th in the table, despite scoring more than West Ham, Wolves and Everton so far. Boss Steve Cooper has plenty to chew on with Nottingham Forest conceding 17 goals so far While it takes time to integrate new summer signings – of which Nottingham Forest have an unprecedented amount – the Reds need to get points on the board quickly and the best way to do that is by closing up shop. After the international break, Forest have a couple of winnable fixtures against Leicester, Aston Villa and Wolves before a tough run of games. Cooper’s troops face Brighton, Liverpool, Arsenal, Brentford, Palace and Manchester United before the World Cup break.
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