PL Gameweek 6 🎮⚽

Listen while reading? 🎧🎵

MCI 2-0 NFO

After 2 silky team goals in 15 minutes, it felt like there could be a repeat of the 6-0 scoreline last season. But an incident no one expected occurred.
The best midfielder in the world had an impulsive moment. Rightly sent off, and he knows that. City didn’t even bother appealing the 3-game suspension. Maybe Rodri really needed to rest. He’s always starting every game for club and country.
City got a taste of their own medicine after the sending off, as they buckled down to preserve their lead.
Hudson-Odoi and Elanga got involved much earlier than the original plan would have intended. Elanga was their most positive force in attack. Maybe he should have started, offering Forest better ball retention in the final 3rd.
As good as City’s midfield is, they have lost their most important general in Rodri. Newcastle will be encouraged in the midweek Carabao Cup game. So will Arsenal, 2 weeks later.
Doku is better than Grealish. Grealish cuts in and slows the game down too much.
Nunes is top quality. Feels like a Man City-type player.
After 10 minutes, Man City had 99% possession, and Forest zero passes.
Nottingham Forest were just not good enough to score against Man City.

Pep Guardiola is not letting him rest… Rodri taking matters into his own hands!

ARS 2-2 TOT 🔴⚪⚔️

Arsenal are still better, but a draw still seemed fair.
In the first half Spurs tried too hard to play out from the back, an approach they moderated after the break. Spurs were shaky and fragmented in possession against Arsenal’s well-drilled pressure. Vicario, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma and Sarr erred under duress multiple times. A certain Bentancur could solidify their passing game.
Bissouma could show his quality on the ball when facing away from goal, coolly gliding past Arsenal’s midfield.
This high-tension game was ultimately decided by moments of lapse on both sides, and they cancelled out.
Saka is clear of Rashford.
Ramsdale seen showing appreciation for Raya’s good holds, drawing mockery from Jamie Carragher. Ramsdale’s father in turn hit back at Carragher.
Saka went into troll mode by doing Maddison’s trademark darts celebration at the camera. Top-class trolling. Some good-natured banter between the two international breaks in September and October.
Maddison took revenge by turning Saka inside out to assist his captain.
Arsenal were the more dangerous and fluid side in the first half, but the introduction of Havertz and Jorginho shook things up.
Jorginho took some time to warm up to the NLD, but conducted the ball well after his goal-leading error.
Udogie didn’t have a good time against Saka. He drew an early yellow card, but continued playing the game with vigour and reasonable aggression, which is very mature for a 20-year-old. Udogie’s next opponent is Salah. Will Postecoglou shore up the left side with Bissouma providing more defensive support to Udogie?
Nketiah lucky not to be sent off for an over-zealous slide tackle on Vicario.
Brennan Johnson made his first start for Spurs, playing on an unfamiliar left flank. Postecoglou finding it hard to drop Kulusevski?
The way Son rallied the fans and put the armband on Romero was great. It shows the current belief, passion, positivity, unity and resilience in the team.
Rice, Saka and Maddison are injury doubts for next week.

LIV 3-1 WHU

Antonio’s pre-match comments backfired as his side were convincingly beaten, and he was well-marshalled by Matip, losing all his aerial duels. Antonio said West Ham will finish above Liverpool this season. Not sure why he said that. He once said Virgil van Dijk was the best defender he has ever faced too. Antonio didn’t show up for the next episode of his podcast, drawing taunts from his podcast partner Callum Wilson.
Liverpool created a good amount of xG (>3) without TAA. More mistakes from him, and I don’t see why he should be starting anymore. Gomez and Matip were good. Klopp has used Jones and Bajcetic at RB this season to solve the lack of depth at RB. Liverpool’s attack hasn’t lost much creativity without TAA. We play the ball faster without him.
Not a good audition for Aguerd at Anfield. He’s recently been linked to Liverpool. I think he’s too old, already 28.
The first-half was a fight; the second-half felt routine as West Ham sat further back. Overall it was a relatively cruising win, as Liverpool picked up zero yellow cards.
So far Salah has been justifying Liverpool’s decision not cashing in ≥150M for him.
Paqueta is an amazing player. He could make a case for being the most well-rounded midfielder in the Premier League. 80M for him does not seem steep at all. Guardiola has a brilliant eye for a player.

Others 🗃️

Neto And Languishing Luton 🟠⭐

Neto will outgrow Wolves at his current pace. He has sparkled previously, but couldn’t keep it up.
Luton played 60% of the game a man up, at home against Wolves. Ended up equalising via a penalty from a handball. The promoted teams this year are very weak, showing the financial disparity between them and some other Premier League clubs. Unlike other promoted teams, these 3 clubs have hardly spent much to improve their chances of remaining in the top flight. They just do not have the wherewithal to take on such risk. They deem it better for them to play with what they have and endure the higher risk of relegation.

Mid United 🤏

xG is not a perfect measure, but creating less than 1xG against Burnley, and losing to them on xG mustn’t be a good sign.
Good gesture from Fernandes to give the MOTM award to Evans, amid question marks over Fernandes’ character and suitability as captain.
For the 12th time running, Man Utd are drawn at home for a domestic cup tie. 2¹²=4096.

Chelsea Seeing Red 🔵🟥

Chelsea created more xG than Aston Villa over the whole game, despite playing 40 minutes a man down after Gusto’s dismissal.
Jackson is unavailable for the next game, while Broja made his return with a brief appearance.
Credit to Aston Villa nonetheless: They have the same number of points as Liverpool and Arsenal in 2023, second only to Manchester City. Aston Villa are having trouble with their kits however…

Sorry Sheffield 😞

Newcastle pummeled Sheffield Utd 8-0 at Bramall Lane. Newcastle gave many substitutes a run, and ended the match with 8 different scorers!
Their biggest away league win comes between midweek fixtures away to Milan and against Man City.
Gordon replaced the injured Barnes early on, and played spectacularly, marauding around for fun. I disagreed when people said Gordon was overpriced when he moved from Merseyside for 50M. This is actually a huge discount because Gordon was discontent at Everton and pushed for the transfer. At 21-years-old he was already the best attacker at Everton and can play on both wings. Counts as a home-grown player too.
This result will be a morale boost and refresher for Newcastle, who have been enduring tough opponents and tough results this season.

Perturbed Pochettino❓

Social media has been all over Chelsea’s poor results in 23/24, and 2023. Chelsea have problems.

They have bought an abundance of exciting prospects, without enough seasoned stars. Most top-performing lineups have a balance of both. Furthermore, Chelsea have an abysmal injury list, which includes Chelsea’s captain (James) and vice-captain (Chilwell), who are injured so frequently.

But I wouldn’t be too concerned if I were a Chelsea fan. Chelsea fans seem quite sanguine relative to their team’s results, with good reason.

Chelsea is the only PL team to have won every game on xG this season. Man City just lost to Newcastle on xG in the Carabao Cup. Chelsea have one of the highest average possession shares in Europe’s top 5 leagues, showing they are clearly dominating games, unlike last season. Moreover, Chelsea’s defence is one of the best in the league, and their attack has posted decent underlyings. Jackson has scored just 1 out of his 8 big chances, and Sterling 1 of 5, for instance. Even without stats, Chelsea look visibly so much better—coherent, energetic and robust.

Fickle, Capricious and Warped 🎭📱

Social media slandered Jonny Evans after coming on as a substitute against Arsenal. He wasn’t even bad in that game, but received flak just because Man Utd conceded after he came on, and lost the game in the end. Recall how the final result almost went the other way via Garnacho’s goal. Evans was an important player for Leicester when they were in the top division, and isn’t a bad back-up option for Utd. Many clubs would take him as a back-up, and he would start for many Premier League teams. But because he is old, has a boring name, and is not a flashy nor memorable player, the bar to criticise him is really low. I doubt there would be the same level of slander had Garnacho been onside. It was a matter of centimetres!

Here is the hypocrisy. Some people are taking back what they said about Evans, and applauding him instead after his performance against Burnley. Idiocy. Social media is too reactionary.

Football is a high variance game. Deviations from the mean occur all the time. Football has a very low number of key match events, and the consequence of each of them is literally game-changing. In any individual match, the final scoreline (i.e. the number of goals scored by each side) is a very blunt indicator of performance.

Social media also has a tendency to facilitate the invention and propagation of fantastical concepts, such as a club’s “pull”. Neymar, Gerrard, Ronaldo and the like are smiling and filming videos in full Saudi Arabian thobes and posting those pictures on social media with highly positive comments, and people still believe in some made-up fantasy of a club’s “pull”??! This notion is as illusory as the intelligence of these people.

Ronaldo fully decked up for Saudi National Day! Al-Nassr’s pull 🔥🔥🔥 Inimitable 👏

Guardiola was called unbeatable during his winning streak at the start of his first PL season. Then results dipped and he was called a fraud, his achievements at Barcelona and Munich discounted. After that maiden season, Guardiola became a serial winner in England, and his team became the gold standard of the Premier League. Still being mocked for not winning the CL, Guardiola won the treble, and now rival fans are wishing he will leave for international management after his current Man City contract expires in 2025.

The fickle and dreadful judgements on social media are disgusting.

Disemployed De Gea 📉

Man Utd let their longest-serving first-team player—who was a former club hero and on 375 thousand pounds per week—go on a free. No club has acquired him since, even generous Saudi Arabia, which says a lot about his actual worth as a player.

Some of his defenders argue De Gea is unemployed because of his age and high wages. But 32 is not old for a goalkeeper. Neuer captained Germany to the World Cup, playing over Ter Stegen, at 36. At 33, Cech, who plays with a head brace, moved to London rivals Arsenal from Chelsea. He was first-choice, captained Arsenal at times and won trophies for a declined Arsenal. (Cech is now a top ice hockey goalkeeper. He is 41.) Past 40, Buffon was still transferring clubs—PSG, Juventus and Parma. Lloris captained his country to a second consecutive World Cup final at 35 years of age, having won the previous edition and reached the final of the 2016 Euro, both as captain. Szczesny at 33 is still starting regularly for Juventus. Sommer, at 34-years-old, signed for both Bayern Munich and Inter Milan this year. Top goalkeepers usually play well into their thirties and have at least 1 long-term contract in them at 32. Moreover, teams like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were in desperate need for a goalkeeper this year.

On the other hand, wages, unlike age, can be moderated. Many players accept less lucrative terms as they approach their twilight. De Gea is not even good enough relative to what he is minimally willing to accept. Or maybe the former £375,000 p/w player is low on confidence, which also attests to his lack of ability.

These being said, however, with the wealth he has amassed (and thus money’s low marginal utility to him) together with the level of scrutiny he would be under if he were playing (and hence the cost to his personal life), De Gea probably isn’t too vexed at not being able to play. He’ll be enjoying his time off, after more than a decade of an intense and stressful job.

Revived Reguilon 📈

Reports say club and player are very happy with each other. His energy and motivation are what the Utd team need to pervade them.

Players’ careers can be so volatile. It shows the fine margins between players at the very top level. Reguilon was once marked as one of the best left-backs in the world by some sources, then was let go by Real Madrid. He was sometimes good at Spurs, before it went downhill during Conte’s reign. The arrival of 20-year-old Udogie then made him surplus to requirements. As the transfer window approached its termination, Man Utd had an injury crisis at left-back (Shaw and Malacia injured), opening up an opportunity for a loan. Being one of his team’s few positives so far, Reguilon is quickly becoming a fan favourite at Manchester.

Sancho Shambles ⛔

Sancho deactivated his Instagram account this week. I generally support managers’ decisions to oust players who have poor work ethic. Doesn’t matter if you’re Ronaldo or Messi. Condoning such behaviour, even implicitly, affects the whole team and undermines a manager’s authority. It’s pernicious to the team in both the short and long-run.

Maybe Sancho has something to learn from his former captain. Maguire, who has endured far worse than Sancho, has shown so much more professionalism, tenacity and discipline. Maguire happens to have had a similar transfer fee.

Headline Of The Week 📰📢

Jadon Sancho exiled from all first-team facilities at Man Utd – including the dining area

PRashford to deliver packed lunches to Sancho: An England wonderboy to another

Ten Hag Is Cooking 🍖🍡

Ten Hag held a barbecue for the families of players and staff. There was a bouncy castle for the children. Sancho was excluded from the party.

(When being the highest spending sports team in history is not enough to create 1xG against Burnley. Strategic masterclass by Seven Hag to make a bouncy castle for the players’ children.)

Quotes Of The Week 📜

Pochettino : “Mudryk said to me today no I don’t want to play (crossbar challenge) with you anymore because you always win.”
Context: Pochettino revealing he’s using the crossbar challenge to boost Mudryk’s confidence.
Mudryk getting clobbered by 50-year-old Pochettino 😬
Guardiola: “Maybe I over-exaggerated a bit. He’s not.”
Context: Guardiola when asked about his recent assessment of Nunes as “one of the best players in the world today”.
Guardiola’s man management and media manoeuvres 🥶
Maddison: “He must have still been doing it when I turned him for the first goal.”
Context: Maddison on Saka’s mimicry of his celebration, before getting rinsed by Maddison at the other end for Son’s goal.
Maddison’s media training 💯
Vidal: “These bald guys are very complicated.”
Context: Arturo Vidal articulated his thoughts on Ten Hag’s handling of Ronaldo, criticising the manager.
Could he be referring to another bald manager in charge of the better team in Manchester?
Guardiola: “If I have to go to war, I would definitely take Arturo with me.”
Context: From 2019. Guardiola worked with Vidal at Bayern Munich.
Guardiola loves making news-worthy moments.

Fantasy 🔮

Neto is attracting attention. 4 assists in 5 games, then scored a goal for 10-man Wolves. Only 5.5M! The problem is that there are too many good midfielders this season, so Neto isn’t very high in my transfer list.
Alvarez… Subbed off before 60 minutes! Rodri’s red card screwed it up. First red of Rodri’s career too, wow. My plan before the international break was to get Morris in instead of Alvarez. I ended up going the other way, then Alvarez blanked and Morris scored… and now the Luton striker has a double gameweek.
I transferred out Watkins for Alvarez. Watkins scored and got maximum bonus. It was from a tight angle, after his initial shot was blocked.
I transferred Foden out this GW too, and he got maximum bonus points and double-digits!
Also, Forest could not decimate Man City’s clean sheet, which hurts my overall rank…
Flekken concedes to Everton in 6 minutes… and ended up letting in 3. Mbeumo blanked too. Everton at home is one of the best fixtures currently, and Brentford assets flopped.
I got clowned by Gusto. His straight red was a mere 2 minutes away from 4 clean sheet points and 1 appearance point.
Pochettino… why make Chilwell your vice-captain when you’re going to play a CB in his position. And the captain is injured too. Another substitute cameo and yellow card for zero points 😐. Worse, he got injured towards the end of the Carabao Cup tie. He did get a big chance—a one-on-one.
Jackson already got his 5th yellow card after just 6 games. The ban must be served in the Premier League, not the FA Cup or Carabao Cup.
Newcastle defenders are really hot now after the Sheffield United game and a good run of fixtures. But Botman, Trippier, Schar and Burn could get rotated. Livramento and Hall weren’t bought to sit on the bench. Lascelles, Dummett and Targett held Man City to a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup. Also, their next PL fixture is between games against Man City and PSG, with more tough CL games to come. I can go from Gusto to Botman, but I really don’t like having centre-backs.
Trippier got 3 headed assists 😭. High-sigma events sometimes occur in FPL and destroy your rank.
Massive rank drop for me in the last 2 weeks. At least I don’t have Jackson.
Sunday’s fixtures underscored how much rotation there is this year. Brighton benched Mitoma, March and even goalkeeper Jason Steele. Liverpool’s front 3 and 3rd midfield player remain unpredictable. Man City’s Pep Roulette in midfield has only been put on hold due to several injuries. Chelsea’s vice-captain Chilwell has not started for 2 weeks running, and I expect to see more managed minutes as their extensive injury list diminishes. Arsenal’s defence has already seen heavy rotation and there will be more of it throughout the lineup as the UCL progresses. Newcastle have been rotating their forwards, amidst a Champions League Group of Hell. Aston Villa could start rotating more when they get deeper into the UECL and their injured absentees return. This is shaping to be a very difficult FPL season.
Is Archer the best 4.5M forward? That’s what many content creators have been saying. But Sheffield Utd are horrible. (Remember Rhian Brewster?) Bournemouth’s Semenyo, on the other hand, had multiple good dangerous moments as a substitute against Brighton. He’s a rotation risk, but he’s better than Archer. He can play on anywhere behind the striker: right, left or centre. The Ghanaian passes the eye test. With Solanke a doubt for the next GW, Semenyo might play striker.
Hoping for Sterling to finally come through next GW. He might play striker, with Jackson suspended and Broja “not ready to start”.