12 minute read
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
LIVERPOOL LOOK LIKE THE ONLY TEAM TRULY CAPABLE OF REELING IN MAN CITY
The Reds lost their first game of the campaign 3-2 away to West Ham in November, bouncing back from that by winning their next six. That got them right back in the mix, but two draws and a defeat in a run of three straight away games against Tottenham, Leicester and Chelsea in late December and early January, along with some postponements, saw Liverpool lose serious ground to City. Chelsea fared even worse over the winter. The Blues were hoping to build on last season’s European triumph and mount a sustained title challenge in a bid to claim their first Premier League title since 2017. They did well to hang on for a draw against Liverpool at Anfield despite going down to 10 men in the first half, but a 1-0 home defeat to City in September brought them back down to earth. After losing to the team they beat in the Champions League final four months previously, Thomas Tuchel’s side went unbeaten in eight, before losing a London derby away to West Ham at the death. They responded with a late victory of their own against Leeds, but then went on an awful run of only one win in seven matches from mid-December to mid-January. The Blues’ only defeat during that spell was another 1-0 loss to City, but all the dropped points well and truly dumped the west London club out of the title picture. It would take a remarkable loss of form from City for Chelsea to get back into it, while overhauling Liverpool is going to be incredibly tough too. Despite finishing second last season, Manchester United are nowhere near a title challenge. The Reds went into the campaign full of optimism after bringing Cristiano Ronaldo home to Old Tra ord, with the arrivals of Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho expected to take United to the next level. Those expectations were looking promising after the Reds won four of their first five matches, drawing the other away to Southampton, but then a run of only one win from seven matches cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job. The Norwegian rebuilt the foundations at Old Tra ord that had been decimated by Jose Mourinho, but painful defeats to rivals Liverpool and City, followed by a 4-1 humiliation at relegation-threatened Watford saw the curtain fall on Solskjaer’s time at the wheel. Tottenham were another club looking to rebuild from the ashes of a toxic Mourinho
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ABOVE: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has a tough task reeling in the champions
BOTTOM: Tottenham manager Antonio Conte didn’t stand a chance in this season’s title race
BOTTOM RIGHT: Tottenham Hotspur celebrating
RIGHT: Ralf Rangnick has improved Manchester United but the Reds remain way o the pace
reign, with Spurs fans hopeful of mounting another title challenge this season under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo. The Portuguese had worked wonders at Wolves, but those hopes quickly evaporated amid a string of dour performances. Antonio Conte arrived in north London at the start of November, on the back of his title triumph with Inter last season, where the Nerazzurri ended Juventus’s nine-year stranglehold on Serie A. The Italian coach went through his first nine games unbeaten, winning six, but the gap to the leaders in both league position and quality was clearly demonstrated in his first loss, as Tottenham went down 2-0 against rivals Chelsea. The January transfer window showed the Spurs hierarchy appear set to back Conte in terms of how he takes the club forward, and there may be hope of a title challenge next season if appropriate funds are provided. No amount of funds would’ve helped them catch City this season, and that goes for most of the clubs in the league. The Blues are operating on a di erent level at present, despite continued concerns about their lack of an out-and-out goalscorer. That’s probably the only thing that’s kept the likes of Liverpool within reach, although City’s superb defence and ability to share the goals around the team has paid dividends so far this term. The holy grail for City, their owners and indeed their manager, remains the Champions League. It’ll be interesting to see how the resumption of European duties a ects City, Liverpool and Chelsea, but barring a minor miracle, the Premier League trophy will be heading back to east Manchester come May.
ABOVE: Kieran Trippier joined Newcastle from Atletico Madrid in January
BELOW: Dele Alli ended his Tottenham nightmare in joining Everton on deadline day
TOP RIGHT: Newcastle brought in the likes of Chris Wood
BEST OF THE WINTER SALES
After Premier League clubs spent almost £300m in the January transfer window, Oli Coates assesses where the bulk of that outlay went.
The gross spend of around £295m in January 2022 was more than four times the amount Premier League clubs splashed out in last year’s winter transfer window. It was the second highest spend we’ve ever seen in a January window, although the net spend of £180m was the highest since the winter shopping window was introduced in 2003. The bottom five clubs in the table accounted for more than half of the expenditure, with newly-rich Newcastle United unsurprisingly the biggest spenders as the new Saudi Arabian regime strives to preserve the club’s Premier League status. The Magpies spent approximately £85m on new players, including Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes, as well as Matt Targett and Dan Burn. Everton spent big on the likes of Nathan Patterson and Dele Alli, although the latter’s £40m transfer fee is heavily incentivised, while Donny van de Beek also headed to Goodison Park on loan from Manchester United. The Reds didn’t bring in any players themselves, but also sent out Anthony Martial, Amad Diallo and Axel Tuanzebe on loan. Manchester City invested an initial £14m on highly-rated Argentine prospect Julian Alvarez, but the 22-year-old will remain at River Plate for the rest of the season. The Blues are weaker up front after allowing Ferran Torres to move to Barcelona, but Pep Guardiola’s side remain hot favourites to retain their Premier League title. Liverpool look like the only club who could realistically topple City, and they’ve strengthened by bringing forward the signing of Luis Diaz from Porto. Jurgen Klopp wanted to wait until the summer, but interest in the Colombian forward from other European powerhouses changed those plans. If Diaz is part of a Liverpool side that somehow manages to take the title back to Anfield, Guardiola’s failure to strengthen his attack during the January transfer window would have to go down as a serious mistake by the City manager.
BETTER BEST
THE GOOD
Some people may challenge the widely accepted notion that the Premier League is the best league in the world, but aside from the exceptional quality we’ve seen so far this season and the growing assembly of elite managers, there is still the ready supply of spectacularly dramatic moments which surely settle the argument once and for all. One such moment came in January when Tottenham substitute Steven Bergwijn scored twice in a matter of seconds deep into stoppage time to snatch a remarkable 3-2 victory for his side away to Leicester City, at the end of an entertaining and incident-packed encounter at the King Power Stadium. Tottenham created numerous chances throughout the game but found themselves trailing 2-1 almost five minutes into time added on and with only seconds to spare, as the expectant home supporters prepared to celebrate an impressive win - only for Bergwijn, introduced late on by boss Antonio Conte, to complete a stunning turnaround. The Dutchman was in the right place to smash in the equaliser from close range after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s pass wasn’t dealt with by the Leicester defence, and it seemed like Spurs had salvaged a point - but they went one better. Youri Tielemans gave the ball away straight from the kick-o , allowing Harry Kane to play a perfectly weighted pass through for Bergwijn, who in the 97th minute was able to round goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and shoot in o the post. At 94 minutes and 52 seconds, Tottenham set a new Premier League record for the latest time to be behind in a match before going on to win, and for Bergwijn it was a potentially defining night in his career at the club. Tipped for a move away during the January transfer window going into the Leicester game, he delivered a most timely reminder of his ability.
STORY LINES
Ex-Chelsea player Craig Burley has gone in hard on Chelsea for their celebrations after winning the Club World Cup beating Palmeiras. Burley, who played for Chelsea between 1989-1997, went on an astonishing rant on ESPN where he slated his former club. He labeled the Club World Cup as a showpiece event and insisted Chelsea should be more concerned about not being able to mount a formidable Premier League title charge. Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville has admitted that the club received ‘better decisions by the referees’ during his playing career. United often appeared to receive preferential treatment from o cials during the glory days under Sir Alex Ferguson, much to the annoyance of rival clubs and fans. And now a video posted to Twitter has gone viral after Phil Neville became the latest person to admit to the favoritism United received. Jake Humphrey is not Jake Humphrey is not impressed by the lunch impressed by the lunch o ering at Manchester o ering at Manchester United. The BT Sport United. The BT Sport presenter shared a photo presenter shared a photo of the food provided of the food provided as he hosted coverage as he hosted coverage of United’s game of United’s game against Southampton. against Southampton. Humphrey’s scrambled egg and mashed potato egg and mashed potato was compared to prison was compared to prison food, it looked that bad. food, it looked that bad.
The Christmas and New Year period was even more di cult than normal for almost everyone in the Premier League, as an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases resulted in numerous matches being postponed, including some at very late notice. However, as Manchester City made light of the situation to pull clear in the title race, rivals Chelsea fell away dramatically and in the space of a few weeks, saw their hopes of reclaiming the crown totally bite the dust. It was all going so well for Thomas Tuchel’s side, who led the table at the beginning of December, before a defeat to West Ham United began a sequence of only two wins in nine Premier League outings up to the middle of January. This run culminated with a 1-0 loss at Man City, who collected maximum points during the same timeframe. Despite possessing a squad with remarkable strength in depth, a Covid outbreak seemed to disrupt their rhythm and a ect the team mentally. Having become renowned for keeping clean sheets, they suddenly started to concede more goals, with a depleted Everton escaping from Stamford Bridge with a 1-1 draw and Brighton making them look ordinary in holding them twice by the same scoreline. Meanwhile, injuries to rampaging wing-backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James arguably unsettled the balance of the side and made them less e ective going forward. Throughout that time, Tuchel was frequently left to bemoan the hand he’d been dealt, and things were made even worse by Romelu Lukaku, who stated in a television interview that he was unhappy with his role at the club. Their record signing soon apologised after being dropped for the draw at home to Liverpool, but the whole episode compounded a punishing winter for Chelsea, where success in the Carabao Cup was the only consolation.
FAR LEFT (OPPOSITE PAGE): Steven Bergwijn scored two goals at the death to earn Tottenham victory over Leicester City
RIGHT (OPPOSITE PAGE): Steven Bergwijn (R) of Tottenham in action during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16, second leg match between Dinamo Zagreb and Tottenham Hotspur
RIGHT: Romelu Lukaku was forced to apologise after giving a television interview that criticised his role at Chelsea
FAR RIGHT: Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel struggled to cope with o -field issues as his side fell out of the title race
Arsenal have had a dig at Tottenham's lack of recent success - via the unusual route of their online shop. The Gunners' north London rivals have had a hard time winning any trophies in recent years, last lifting the League Cup in 2008. Arsenal have poked some fun at their local foes by displaying a cheeky message when fans browse their shop. Any attempt to checkout without adding anything to the shopping cart is met with a message that reads: "Your basket is as empty as Tottenham's trophy cabinet." Arsenal have said that the message had not been o cially approved to appear on their site and was later removed. Manchester United have stopped selling Mason Greenwood's shirt online and Nike has announced an end to its working relationship with the forward following “disturbing allegations” made against the England international. The 20-year-old was suspended by United after images and voice recordings of alleged o ences were circulated on social media.
