🚲 Garnacho's stunning bicycle kick
Plus Spurs vs. Villa, Forest vs. Brighton and the rest of the action from the Premier League
We’ll call this week’s newsletter as being delivered ‘in added time’ rather than ‘late’. But for very good reason, I’ve got a new job! 🥳 And so have been taking the last few days to get my ducks in a row. Quack etc.
Check out the Bloomsbury Football Foundation – they’re a social impact charity that run discounted and free football coaching for kids across London. Super stoked to make football my job (!!) in the New Year, and make sure to say nice things in the comments as my line manager is my newest subscriber.
Enough about me, let’s dive into the Prem. Welcome to Andrew’s Weekly Sports Bulletin, #12
Game of the Weekend 🙌
Nottingham Forest 2-3 Brighton
A lot of competition for top billing this weekend, but I’ve gone for Forest-Brighton, partially in an attempt to talk about other squads than Chelsea and Newcastle. There’s so much talent in these teams, and I was surprised that a tense and tight contest was so far down the running order on Match of the Day.
Brighton are decimated by injury, but their youthful and at face value inexperienced squad consistently step up. Their two strikers, Irishman Evan Ferguson and ex-Watford starlet Joao Pedro, have a combined age of 41, and contributed all the Seagulls’ three goals in this game. The more I watch Ferguson, the more I’m reminded of Harry Kane. He’s a well-built lad but has nimble feet, and has an unerring ability to find the corner, doing so with laser precision. It’s possibly hyperbolising, but in terms of pure finishing, I think he already ranks in the top five in the league.
A hard-fought win for Roberto De Zerbi’s men is their first in five, and getting over the line will have settled nerves at the Amex - I’m sure hearts were in mouths when captain Lewis Dunk was sent off with 20 minutes remaining. Excitingly, Brighton have scored and conceded in each of their last 17 league games, an all-time division record; Brighton are nothing if not the entertainers of the division.
Forest’s problem last year was getting their unbelievable number of signings to gel into a cohesive team. Although manager Steve Cooper is still tinkering to find that perfect balance, they’re clearly hitting their stride and finding the fluidity that allows their best football. Playmaker and chief architect Morgan Gibbs-White is returning to his best, and Anthony Elanga, ex-Manchester United winger, is proving a valued addition.
Even with the result on Saturday going against them, Forest look in the ascendancy and will take plenty of positives – keep an eye on their position in the table given their upcoming run of fixtures.
Tactical Trends 📊
Emery appreciation society
The Unai Emery revolution continues at Villa Park. Away at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Villa came out better and moved into the top four. It’s worth reiterating how difficult that is in the modern league. Granted, Aston Villa are no tinpot club; they have an immensely rich football history (they’re seven time top division winners, and have a European Cup to their name too). But, they are unable to compete financially with the big hitters - your Newcastles, your Manchester Citys.
Emery and the Villa board have invested sensibly to improve the squad to the Spaniard’s preferred mould, but it’s his astute tactical brain that has made the individuals perform on a higher plane than the sum of their parts.
Against Spurs, for example, Emery switched from his usual four defenders to five, pushing Matty Cash further forward. Cash was pretty ineffective and looked off the pace, best exemplified when he flew into a challenge to injure opponent Rodrigo Bentancur. With the scores level at half-time, an unimpressed Emery switched systems, bringing on the more traditional winger Leon Bailey with an aim to challenge a shaky defence more directly. Bailey changed the game – he drove inside with the ball at players who had no answer – and Villa emerged victorious, in no small part because of this substitution.
The league table for the calendar year shows Villa trail only reigning champions City, and sit level on points with Arsenal, with a team whose talent is perceived as considerably worse by most. Emery performed miracles with Sevilla when managing in Spain, and is doing the same again in the Midlands. This was a great opportunity to underline the credentials of this Villa team, and the players and manager rose to the occasion to seize it.
Spurs on the slide
The alternative narrative of Sunday’s early game in North London is Spurs’ decline (does it count as decline if they’ve only been good for three months?) Yes, there’s the caveat that several key players are missing for Postecoglou. And yes, this doesn’t detract from the fact that when the first choice eleven are fit, Spurs are a threatening outfit.
But watching the highlights, even I could identify their big problem against Villa– it meant I got that smug feeling of satisfaction when it was the first thing Danny Murphy spoke about on Match of the Day.
Namely, Spurs played four wing backs in their defensive line, with Emerson Royal and Ben Davies filling in at centre back. These are two players not known for their strength and physical presence, crucial attributes for a top-level centre half, and Villa’s goals (and at least two other chances I could identify) were a direct result of these players’ unfamiliarity in their adopted positions.
For Pau Torres’ equaliser, Davies was on the wrong side and so left the Spaniard to head the ball uncontested – this was after a mirror image chance was almost converted earlier in the half. Emerson Royal was then not close enough nor strong enough to prevent Watkins from scoring the winner – you’d imagine a stronger presence would’ve given Watkins more to think about.
I suppose these goals could have happened anyway, but it seems odd that Eric Dier, England centre back with 49 international appearances, sat on the bench for the entirety of this game. I messaged a friend asking this very question in early November, even before Romero’s suspension and Van de Ven’s injury.
Spurs’ inability to adapt is in stark contrast to what we’ve just said about Villa. Emery made substitutions to change the game, while Postecoglou refused to bring on a naturally suited player to stem an obvious issue. Maybe then it’s no surprise which team came out on top.
Did both Manchester United and Chelsea win this week? 🏆
🥳 NO 🥳
United breezed past a disappointing Everton, but Chelsea failed to show up against the Toon. A 4-1 loss, and possibly the beginning of the end for the timeless Thiago Silva.
Season tally: Yes 3 - 10 No.
Player of the Week 🎖
Kobbie Mainoo
My thoughts on Manchester United’s midfield are well documented (reminder: it sucks). So, how refreshing it was to see a promising youth player set an example.
I can only guess, but walking out to 40,000 angry Scousers, all enraged by the perceived corruption of their 10-point deduction during the international break, is likely a tad disconcerting.
But Kobbie Mainoo, the 18 year old Manchester United academy graduate, showed no signs of fear. The defensive midfielder not only showed his game intelligence and well-rounded skillset in his first ever Premier League start, he actually looked like he cared about a positive result for the club – a totally unknown sentiment for most of United’s squad.
At 1-0, he powered back behind his beaten goalkeeper to clear a Dwight McNeil effort off the line, while Idrissa Gueye breathed down his neck. It’s a determination and commitment to winning every ball that United have so often lacked this year.
It would be churlish to say ‘United are back!’, and wholly ill-advised to suggest Mainoo can become Old Trafford’s Mr. Reliable week-in, week-out. So, let’s celebrate a good performance, and leave it at that for now.
Oh, and a brief pause for the brilliance that was Alejandro Garnacho’s goal. *chef’s kiss*
(Editor’s note: I wrote this before United’s capitulation against Galatasaray and so feel it necessary to change my stance; Mainoo isn’t the hero United deserve, but he is the one they need right now).
Thanks as always for reading, share with any friends you think will disagree with me to get the numbers up.
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See you next time!
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