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Premier League weekend review: What we learned

By Alex Keble 26 Aug 2024
Keble what we learned MW2

Alex Keble on the key talking points, including Slot's revolution, Postecoglou's smart call and much more

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Following the conclusion of Matchweek 2 in the 2024/25 Premier League season, Alex Keble looks at the key talking points and tactical lessons, including:

- The fatal flaw in Ten Hag's tactics
- Slot's revolution in evidence
- Arsenal's statement win could be defining
- Man City in ominous spring-like form
- Lack of control a worry for Maresca?
- Postecoglou's smart tactical call
- Pereira and Smith Rowe star for Fulham
- Tough start continues for Southampton
- Early concerns for Glasner?
- Barnes makes impact for improving Newcastle

Man Utd’s defending shows risks of Ten Hag’s tactics

Just two Premier League matches into the season and we can see Erik ten Hag’s new plan is to play higher up the pitch, press hard to squeeze those midfield spaces and use fast and direct attacking football when in possession.

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This is definitely a new Manchester United. But it’s also the same old Man Utd.

Their penalty-box defending was poor for both Brighton & Hove Albion goals, as has been extensively covered elsewhere, but arguably that is not Ten Hag’s main concern.

United’s pressing game – effective for the first half – began to fade after Mason Mount went off, leading to a familiarly stretched shape, familiarly open team and familiarly late concession of a goal.

The corner that led to Joao Pedro’s winner came from one simple pass, out from goalkeeper Jason Steele, that allowed Brighton to walk through a United midfield containing solely Casemiro.

Brighton's winning goal

This happened because the press had become disorganised, but also because the fast and direct style of attack inevitably stretches the pitch.

Once the press diminishes, all those long vertical passes – made in a rush to get forward - stretches the team lengthways, allowing opponents to counter straight back.

As a result, Ten Hag needs a near-perfect pressing shape for a full 90 minutes to stop these kinds of defeats. There is work to be done.

Midfield performance suggests major Klopp flaw is being fixed

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were top of the Premier League at the beginning of April only to fall away when a season-long flaw finally caught up with them. The midfield was just too chaotic.

Arne Slot was appointed to bring a calmer style of football that seeks greater control in central midfield, and the evidence so far suggests he is already on course to fix the problem.

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Liverpool boasted a 92 per cent pass accuracy against Brentford, their fourth highest in a Premier League match on record (since 2003/04). 

Already Slot has found the right midfield combination. The double-pivot of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister controlled Brentford superbly, although Dominik Szoboszlai’s hard work dropping back into midfield was just as important.

Gravenberch and Mac Allister made three tackles and two interceptions each, while Szoboszlai recorded an impressive 96.9 per cent pass accuracy from 64 passes.

Szoboszlai

The new 4-2-3-1 formation brings stability, as does Slot’s instruction to play a little slower and calmer, with players holding their positions rather than improvising to find space.

It has brought two wins from two and both to nil, something no new Liverpool manager has achieved since Graeme Souness in 1991.

Arsenal’s statement win is a big step forward

The two big misses by Ollie Watkins, the second interpreted as an outstanding save by David Raya, tell us this match could easily have gone the other way. But the performance did not matter as much as the result.

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Arsenal have overcome their bogey team, and by doing so in Matchweek 2 have put down a marker for the season. Here is proof – for their rivals, but also for themselves – that they can take another step forward this season as they chase down Manchester City.

To win the title, especially in the age of Pep Guardiola’s Man City, you need a bit of luck, as well as a ruthless, relentless streak.

Liverpool won 26 of their first 27 Premier League matches of the 2019/20 season in order to break Man City. Arsenal might need something similar.

Beating Villa, then, could prove to be a defining moment in this story.

Man City already playing like it’s spring
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We didn’t learn anything about Man City from this match, which is precisely why their 4-1 victory should worry Arsenal and Liverpool fans.

It was same old City: ruthless, calm, and by far the better team. But by “same old” we mean the team who ended the 2023/24 campaign with nine consecutive Premier League victories, as opposed to how City usually start seasons.

This is supposed to be the slow bit. Instead, with Kevin De Bruyne back to his best, Erling Haaland looking sharper than ever, Savinho hitting the ground running, and Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri still to come in, the champions already look imperious.

Haaland v IPS player_shot placement map - 16x9

Then again, if you’re look for reasons to doubt them winning five in a row, it’s worth remembering they won their first six league matches last season, only to drop points in seven of their next 11.

Let’s wait and see what autumn brings.

Madueke revels in chaos but will Maresca be satisfied?
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What a weird and wonderful match. It was bedlam at Molineux, where Noni Madueke’s ruthless finishing was the difference in a basketball game of the kind that Enzo Maresca – a manager all about control and order – will not have liked.

Herein lies the irony of Chelsea’s emphatic win. They scored six, they played brilliant free-flowing attacking football, and yet it was the kind of urgent, high-risk, Pochettino type of football the new head coach wants less of.

But the Chelsea players just couldn’t resist taking part in a contest like this.

Wolves pulled them into their chaos, pressing absurdly high and hard in a wild 4-2-4 formation that left space for Chelsea to counter, and then space for Wolves to counter-counter, and then space for Chelsea to counter-counter-counter.

WOLCHE match momentum

It was carnage – and not what Maresca planned; Chelsea’s second goal came from a goalkeeper kick upfield and a Cole Palmer improvisation, while all four in the second half were quick breaks following a turnover in possession.

Maresca wants his team to press high, and if possession is won, he wants to attack quickly from here, but that isn’t the same as bursting forward at every opportunity - as Chelsea did.

It will be interesting to see what Maresca does with this information.

Palmer, Madueke, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and pretty much every Chelsea player excelled with all that space to run into.

Here is a squad well suited to this direct style of football, set to embark on a project that seeks to do different.

Maresca has a lot to consider.

Postecoglou targets Everton’s full-backs with smart tactical call 

It was the simplest of wins for Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday - and the simplest of tactics to get the job done.

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Everton are weak in the full-back positions, as was proved by Brighton’s wingers in a 3-0 defeat on the opening weekend, which is why Spurs doubled up on both flanks to punish the Toffees in that area.

Ange Postecoglou has been accused of knowing only one way of playing. Here, he proved that is not true. 

Postecoglou made the rare decision to alter his Plan A, starting Dejan Kulusevski in central midfield so that he could swing out to the right and double up with Brennan Johnson, effectively giving Spurs two right wingers to attack Vitalii Mykolenko

With James Maddison also moving left to support the superb Wilson Odobert, Spurs hit the wings over and over again.

Spurs' attacks from the wings v Everton
Spurs attacking zones v Everton

Unsurprisingly, it led directly to the opening goal. 

Johnson dribbled into the box from the right, pulling four Everton defenders towards him. Upon losing the ball, Maddison passed it out to Kulusevski, who did exactly the same thing, bamboozling an Everton defence dealing with the headache of two right wingers. 

The subsequent confusion is why Kulusevski’s pass found Yves Bissouma in so much space to score the opener.

Bissouma's goal v Everton

Spurs constantly did this on both sides, hitting Everton directly in their weakest point. Postecoglou takes all the credit for a simple but smart tactical change. 

Pereira gets to grips with new Fulham role 

The arrival of Emile Smith Rowe has triggered a change of formation for Marco Silva, who now plays two advanced No 8s in a 4-3-3 formation that’s more ambitious than the previous 4-2-3-1. 

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Andreas Pereira has moved to a slightly deeper role alongside Smith Rowe rather than leading from the tip of midfield as a No 10. His influence in a 2-1 win against Leicester City suggests it’s a positive change. 

Pereira created seven chances (albeit five from corners), which is the joint-most by a Fulham player ever recorded in the Premier League since 2003/04.  

Smith Rowe’s goal, his first in the Premier League in 32 matches and 857 days, gets the headlines but Silva’s ambitious new deployment of two playmakers was the real reason Fulham won.

Smith Rowe's goal v Leicester 
 Southampton’s ‘tension’ is unlikely to relax in relegation fight 

“First half, there was a lot of tension,” Russell Martin told Match of the Day after Southampton's 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.  

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“We need that goal to relax everyone really. I get, it after the last time the team was in the Premier League, but we are here now.  

“One win – because the performances have been OK - and everyone will relax, I'm sure.” 

Martin’s positivity shows a deep belief in his philosophy but not everyone will share his optimism; not everyone will agree that if Southampton keep playing their own way the tension will lessen and results will come. 

Southampton had five shots on goal and accrued an xG of just 0.1. They are yet to score a goal this season – and they never really looked like scoring against Forest despite again dominating possession.  

It won’t be long before questions are asked: can Saints’ possession-centric style work at Premier League level given the quality of attackers at Martins’ disposal?  

Relegation battles breed tension and possession-based football requires confidence. The first goal of the season might relax them a little… but Premier League life isn’t going to get any easier. 

Glasner will be worried by Palace’s slow start 

After winning six of the final seven Premier League matches of 2023/24, there were high hopes for Oliver Glasner.

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However, Crystal Palace have hit the ground with a thud at the start of this season.

It’s difficult to know how worried they should be. Palace have lost their first two fixtures of the season for the first time since 2017/18, and after losing Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, it will concern supporters that the goals appear to have dried up. 

Then again, no team in the division has underperformed their xG by as much as Palace (2.5 so far), suggesting they are getting chances and a bit more luck is all that’s needed for course correction. 

It is definitely far too early for panic. Nevertheless, Palace won four points from the corresponding fixtures in 2023/24 – and they travel to a reinvigorated Chelsea on Sunday. 

Barnes’ performance a sign Newcastle will improve 

A controversial VAR call saved Newcastle United from defeat on Sunday afternoon, but even if they had lost, there were signs of a bright future under Eddie Howe

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The most important of which was the impact of Harvey Barnes, whose brilliant cross from the left assisted Anthony Gordon’s equaliser. 

Since the start of last season, no Premier League player has been involved in more goals from the bench than Barnes (4 goals, 3 assists), although with his injuries behind him, Barnes will hope to start more matches in 2024/25. 

Barnes’ performance hints at a better season for Newcastle, blessed with a deeper bench compared with 2023/24.

Sandro Tonali is back this week, too. Howe finally has options. 

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