One week down. Thirty-seven to go. After waiting almost three months for the start of the Premier League, it came and went with some interesting score lines and the sense that this season will be filled with much drama. You can't really make a true assessment after one game, but you can form an idea of what will be the positives and negatives each club will face throughout this long season.
Starting in Anfield, Liverpool started with probably the most optimism of any club after splashing out heavily in the transfer market. The Kopites were in full voice and happy to see many of the new faces in the starting eleven. To my surprise Dirk Kuyt was on the bench for the first time under Kenny Dalglish. Something I thought was a mistake. The first half belonged to Liverpool. Stewart Downing and Charlie Adams were both clinical in their skilful distribution of the ball. It was amazing to watch. The former had an impressive run which led to a shot that smashed off the cross bar, and the latter was picking apart the opposition with accurate long distance passes and the Black Cats were forced to chase the ball all half. Luis Suarez also got the start and was a major factor in the opening stages. Firstly for a good run. Followed by missing a penalty and finally for scoring the opener. Dalglish had many positives going intthe break and Liverpool looked ruthless.
Starting in Anfield, Liverpool started with probably the most optimism of any club after splashing out heavily in the transfer market. The Kopites were in full voice and happy to see many of the new faces in the starting eleven. To my surprise Dirk Kuyt was on the bench for the first time under Kenny Dalglish. Something I thought was a mistake. The first half belonged to Liverpool. Stewart Downing and Charlie Adams were both clinical in their skilful distribution of the ball. It was amazing to watch. The former had an impressive run which led to a shot that smashed off the cross bar, and the latter was picking apart the opposition with accurate long distance passes and the Black Cats were forced to chase the ball all half. Luis Suarez also got the start and was a major factor in the opening stages. Firstly for a good run. Followed by missing a penalty and finally for scoring the opener. Dalglish had many positives going intthe break and Liverpool looked ruthless.
The second half was a different story. Sunderland started strong and created chances. Anfield became surprisingly quiet as the ball movement dried up and Liverpool were on the defensive. An impressive strike by Sebastian Larsson sealed it after John Flanagan failed to mark him in the box. The youngster with his confidence blown looked extremely nervous on the ball and had to be bailed out on a number of occasions as the game progressed. It wasn't the start Dalglish would have wanted to start the season but Steve Bruce and his group was happy to leave Merseyside with the split.
The biggest result came from Loftus Road. Bolton hammered promotion newbie’s Queens Park Rangers in front of a packed house. Ticket prices were raised by the mega-rich owners but the quality on the pitch must improve to match the money supporters will have to spend this season. With all the internal fighting a supporter revolt is brewing under the surface. Kieron Dyer didn't even last ten minutes into his QPR debut, being taken off after by a stretcher after falling awkwardly after a tackle. It is obvious Neil Warnock will need new players added to have a chance this season. Owen Coyle's side came into the game limping but left with a sense of belief and confidence after putting four past Paddy Kenny and earning a rare clean sheet for Jussi Jasskelainen.
Norwich City earned a point late in their opening fixture against Wigan Athletic as they drew 1-1. Paul Lambert has his side playing an entertaining style of soccer, although it was an Ali Al-Habsi mistake in goal that led to Wes Hoolahan's equalizer. Wigan had chances late to get the winner but was denied. The Canaries showed they will struggle defensively this season, showing their vulnerability at different stages throughout the game. They will be this year's Blackpool but hopefully with a different end result.
At Craven Cottage, Shay Given deservingly earned all the praise after a stellar performance in goal for Aston Villa. He was the true stand out in a game that involved more missed half chances than quality ones. John Arne Riise had a good chance early on to open the scoring for Fulham and Bobby Zamora had the best chance after the interval but was also denied. Given's experience was ever present for his new club, his positioning and distribution were perfect all game but the clean sheet was wasted with the Villains failing to score. Charles N'Zogbia was looking rusty and out of sync in his Villa debut and Darren Bent wasn't really provided with enough service to be a threat. Reason enough why it ended scoreless.
Wolverhampton left it late but managed to finally beat Blackburn 2-1, but this time it was at Ewood Park. These two met on the final day last season, both needing to win to earn safety. Rovers went on to win that day but both managed to avoid the drop after a late goal by Stephen Hunt kept Wolves up on goal difference. In this fixture the scoring came in bunches with Mauro Formica giving Blackburn the lead, immediately followed by Steven Fletcher scoring an equalizer minutes later. The winner came in the second half when Paul Robinson denied Matt Jarvis from the spot, but Stephen Ward scored on a rebound after a flurry of chances. Steve Kean will have his hands full this season, providing he makes it that far.
The final game on Saturday came from Tyneside. Arsenal returns to St. James Park after last season's four goal collapse. After all the drama surrounding Arsene Wenger and the club, Gunners fans were hoping for someone to step up. Unfortunately for them that didn't happen. Arsenal looked a shadow of what we're used to seeing. An identity was clearly missing. Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri were left out of the squad with their futures up in the air. Jack Wilshire was injured and Arsenal suffered for it. Robin van Persie had a decent game as did new signing Gervinho. Until he took a dive looking for a penalty and what ensued was farcical at best. Joey Barton decided to get involved and help the Ivorian up, which is putting it lightly. How Barton wasn't sent off is beyond me. It got heated because of his reaction. A scrum followed with Gervinho lightly slapping Barton at best. He reacted late and went down as if he was KO'd by Mike Tyson. The ref should have sent both players to the showers or given them each a yellow card.
Before this play, Barton was involved in an earlier altercation but this time he was the victim of a vicious stomp on the back of his ankle by Alex Song. Something the officials missed which sent Barton bonkers. If he could only concentrate on his football, the sideshow that follows him would slowly disappear. Newcastle United couldn't capitalize on being a man up and the game ended scoreless.
On Sunday, Andre Villas-Boas took his Chelsea side to the Brittania Stadium for a difficult opener on the road against Stoke City. The young manager decided to start Fernando Torres ahead of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka despite the Spaniard having some concussion like symptoms earlier in the week during international duty and only playing fifteen minutes. To be honest Torres probably had his best game since his arrival. He showed confidence in his runs and touches throughout the game and came close on a number of occasions to put the blues in the lead. A positive sign that his form maybe creeping back to the surface. The Potters surprisingly dominated the first half, keeping possession and creating chances that put Chelsea on the ropes. Asmir Begovic deserved most of the praise in my opinion, he was instrumental in earning Stoke a point. The second half was different with Villas-Boas men controlling the play, but the result remained the same and the game ended without a goal. But an entertaining nil-nil to say the least.
The final game of the weekend was at The Hawthorns with Manchester United visiting West Bromwich Albion. We witnessed the offensive power of United last weekend against City. The way they can almost effortlessly move the ball around the pitch and create chances at will. It wasn't surprising that Wayne Rooney opened the scoring early in the first half. Going back to last weekend we also witnessed what might potentially be United's Achilles heel, and that's David de Gea. His howler last week was followed with another blunder this weekend. A weak dribbler by Shane Long proved to be too much for the young Spaniard to handle. The reaction of his teammates was evidence of how soft of a goal this turned out to be. The potential is there but his thin build and wiry frame looks incapable to handle the physicality of English football thus far. He was bullied around all game and couldn't establish dominance of his area. I'm not denying his skill at shot blocking, he has great instinctive skills, but when given time to think he seems to falter. It’s too early to judge but his displays so far have been below par. Luckily for United supporters, the team has the quality to push forward at will and the winner was scored after a nice piece of skill by Ashley Young and an unfortunate deflection by Steven Reid for the 2-1 victory.
Bad news for United is they saw Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand limp off during the game with injuries. This following the news of Rafael being sidelined for ten weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Sir Alex Ferguson is now left with a rather inexperienced defensive pairing of Phil Jones and Jonny Evans to rely on. At the time of writing Ferdinand was expected to be out for six weeks with a pulled hamstring and the calf problem for Vidic will take at least a couple of weeks as well. With blunders slowly piling up for de Gea week after week the youngster will start to feel the pressure tremendously. Being without the leadership and strong partnership of Vidic and Ferdinand could be a recipe for disaster.
It was an interesting start to the campaign; you really can't get overly excited or upset at your clubs performances after one game. You could see some players need time to gel with their team-mates and some still are trying to regain full fitness. Managers are still tinkering and the transfer window is still open for business. The season is fresh and lofty expectations have to be kept in check for the time being, their will be plenty of time to complain about ambition, player form and tactics starting in September.
Game of the Week: West Bromwich vs. Manchester United
Goal of the Week: Sebastian Larsson vs. Liverpool
Goalkeeper of the Week: Shay Given vs. Fulham
Lowlight of the Week: Joey Barton vs. Arsenal
Leave your comments and opinions about what you thought was the game, goal, keeper and lowlight of the week.
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