Monday, August 20, 2012

Premier League Roundup: The Best and Worst of Week 1

After an exciting and ultra-dramatic season last year, the 2012-13 version of the EPL has a lot to live up to.  With transfers galore over the offseason, many questions have been asked from each squad... with the most obvious of course:  How will Van Persie perform at United?  Can the title be won outside Manchester?  Who will be the most influential transfer? 

Well, after the first week of action, I believe there are even more questions that are in need of answering.   

Best showing by a transfer:  Eden Hazard

He absolutely made the most of his Chelsea debut by making an immediate impact.  An assist after two minutes on a lovely turn through to Ivanovic started his Premier League career.  In the seventh he made a lovely move to draw a penalty after he got pulled down (subsequently netted by Lampard.)  This plus a solid performance from there on before being substituted for fellow debutante Oscar earned Hazard "Man of the Match."

Most exciting game:  Manchester City 3:2 Southampton

My word.  What more can you ask for from a game?  Goals, crucial injury, drama, comebacks.  This match had it all.  The opening quarter-of-an-hour gave City a big scare, as last season's hero Sergio Aguero had to be stretchered off with an apparent knee injury, although it doesn't seem to be as serious as once thought.  I predict he'll be out 4-6 weeks.

Carlos Tevez performed up to par after an attitude change over an offseason that he got himself into significantly better shape.  The leaner and more focused Tevez netted the only tally of the opening stanza to the near post, after a beautiful run (with perhaps a whisper of offside) sent him free.

The visitors looked all but dead, as 4-0 or 5-0 looked possible.  Richie Lambert, who surprisingly started the match on the bench after winning his respective league's Golden Boot in 3 of his last 4 campaigns with Southampton, came on and scored a beauty within three minutes of coming on, sending the visiting supporters into a frenzy.

Shortly thereafter, Rangers-casualty Steven Davis made em pay on a counter attack.  City were slow to get back after their corner was cleared, leading to a 5-on-3, in which Davis slotted the ball into the lower-right corner from the left side at the top of the 18, silencing all City supporters, and the small sea of red went mad with jubilation shockingly up 2-1.

After that, City turned up the heat, owning the possession for the rest of the fixture.  Three minutes after the goal, Dzeko put home the equalizer after a scrum in the box.  

Southampton tried to hold on, but an unfortunate error by Fox landed the ball at Samir Nasri's feet, all by himself from 12 yards out, giving the home side three points with 10 minutes remaining.


Least surprising "upset":  Everton 1:0 Manchester United

Manchester United were the talk of the world after signing Robin Van Persie midweek.  All this talk has deflected attention away from their devastated back line.  Today they opened the season with two midfielders playing in the back four, as Michael Carrick played alongside Vidic in the middle, while Antonio Valencia manned the right side.  Patrice Evra has shown weakness last year on the left side, which needs revamping as well.

Fellain absolutely owned Carrick inside, and finally made him pay for it on the only goal, out-muscling him, rising up and slotting a scorching header past a helpless De Gea, who played brilliantly otherwise.      


Most surprising result:  West Brom 3:0 Liverpool

While I am not surprised with WBA earning the three points, it's the manner that they did so.  They easily were the better side in this fixture, and had the two teams swapped shirts, it would have made sense.  Liverpool looked flat and inexperienced, as they still need to adjust to coach Brendan Rodger's style of play.  It's only the first match, and they shouldn't worry.  Liverpool usually struggle against mid-table clubs and perform well against the big boys.  They have City, Arsenal, Sunderland and United their next four matches

Don't expect them to win next week however if they struggle against Hearts mid-week in their Europa play-off.


Biggest head scratcher:  QPR 0:5 Swansea

A slew of new players into QPR, a home fixture, and a Swansea side who lost their best player and their manager to Liverpool looked to be an equation for week one success.

They outshot the Swans 21-14, however, they couldn't get anything on target, as Swansea led that department 6-4.

Unfortunately for QPR, 5 of those 6 got past Robert Green.  To his credit however, QPR's defense looked all over the place, and they need to regroup and get their acts together.


Best goal:  Zoltan Gera, West Brom




Just remember, you cannot judge a season by the first week of play.  Things usually pan out around ten weeks.    

No comments:

Post a Comment