Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 42

Chaotic, occasionally brilliant Chelsea show where Man City are vulnerable | Jonathan Wilson

It’s not time for Pep Guardiola to panic, but Chelsea’s unpredictable style removed what the manager covets most: control

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Perhaps what was most striking in Chelsea’s 4-4 draw with Manchester City on Sunday was how one team played entirely to type, and one team didn’t. That’s a situation that should give hope not only to Chelsea but to the rest of the league: perhaps this iteration of City is not quite so relentless and remorseless as had been thought. They go into the international break only a point clear of Arsenal and Liverpool, whom they face in the first game back.

Chelsea are unpredictable, occasionally brilliant, skittish and chaotic, and have in Cole Palmer a player who seems as yet not to have been ground down by the game, who regards structures and expectations and pressure with an anarchic insolence. A vital injury‑time penalty against the club he left in August for a player who says he doesn’t really practise penalties? No problem, the ball dispatched calmly into the top corner.

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Horizon still distant on Raheem Sterling’s long road to redemption at Chelsea | Jonathan Wilson

His form is improved but as he faces old club Manchester City, the former England regular still finds himself on the outside

Raheem Sterling felt his position at Manchester City had become untenable. He had been there seven years, enjoying remarkable success, but had been left “fuming, raging” by the sense that the sacrifices he had made had not been respected. “Everyone wants to feel wanted,” he said. “Football is no different.” And so he decided to leave.

He was 27 and an England regular. This was a big move for him. He had won four league titles at City, but this was a potentially career-defining move. He had been part of Brendan Rodgers’ glorious but doomed title charge at Liverpool. He had been an integral component in the Pep Guardiola machine. Where had similar allure? Where could he spend his notional peak that would not seem anticlimactic? He opted for Chelsea, who had won the Champions League a year earlier under Thomas Tuchel.

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Dominic Solanke lifts Bournemouth with double to sink weary Newcastle

There is a yellow wall in Bournemouth, but it is made of sandstone and lies beneath the row of pines that edge the cricket pitch just over the road from the car park. Having played in front of the Yellow Wall at Dortmund on Tuesday – capacity of stand: 25,000 – a process of recalibration is required for Newcastle to play at Dean Court – capacity of stadium: 11,379. That readjustment, as much as fatigue, is the problem presented by the Champions League.

And it is becoming a problem: Newcastle have won only one of four games after European ties this season. That was, admittedly, the 8-0 win at Sheffield United, but at West Ham and at Wolves they were as flat as they were here. Seven points have been dropped in those three games. That doesn’t in any sense means that another Champions League qualification is impossible or even unlikely, but they do now lie behind Manchester United, for all their perpetual crisis. “We couldn’t be where we needed to be for it,” said Eddie Howe. “In and out of possession we were unrecognisable. They’re such honest players and they’ve given me so much that I’m absolutely clear I have to support them.”

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Arsenal feel hard done by and Luton hold Liverpool – Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jordan Jarrett-Bryan, and Jonathan Wilson to discuss all the weekend’s Premier League action

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On the podcast today: the panel discuss Arteta and Arsenal’s backlash against Premier League refereeing as they lose their first game of the season thanks to a controversial goal for Newcastle.

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Manchester United are repeating a familiar pattern | Jonathan Wilson

Victory at Fulham eased the pressure on the United manager, but the club’s biggest problem is the ownership

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“It’s a good dressing room and they fight for each other,” Erik ten Hag said after Manchester United beat Fulham with an injury-time Bruno Fernandes winner on Saturday. And perhaps there is some truth to that. There’s always a lot made when a manager comes under pressure of whether the squad are still fighting for him and, given they’ve won four of their last six games with last-minute heroics, it’s fair to say that this is not a group who are meekly accepting their fate. Then again, if you’re constantly having to get out of jail, it’s probably worth asking what you’ve done to get in there in the first place.

In the aftermath of the 3-0 defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle, there had been rumours swirling at the end of last week that Ten Hag would be sacked if United lost at Fulham, although the truth is that he is probably insulated until Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 25% takeover of the club is resolved. As and when Ratcliffe does take charge of the football side of operations, though, he will have a clear question to answer over Ten Hag’s future.

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Clownish populist Infantino is complicit in Saudi Arabia’s colonisation of football | Jonathan Wilson

Gulf state’s land grab for 2034 World Cup is yet another example of cartoonish Fifa overlord putting self-interest before football

Congratulations to Saudi Arabia, host of the 2034 World Cup after Australia, reading the runes having been given a month to prepare a bid for a tournament 11 years away, decided not to get involved. In theory, of course, the Saudi bid still has to be examined and ratified before a formal decision is announced next year, but Gianni Infantino acknowledged that is a rare and unwelcome vestige of due process at Fifa by announcing the Saudi success on Instagram.

Here’s to the future, and let nobody worry that homosexuality being illegal and women’s rights severely restricted in Saudi Arabia seem not entirely compliant with Fifa’s statutes on discrimination.

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The gulf between the Premier League and the rest has never been this wide | Jonathan Wilson

All three promoted clubs are in the relegation zone this season. Their struggles reflect a wider problem in the modern game

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It was another bad weekend for the three promoted sides. Luton fought gamely but were well-beaten at Aston Villa. Burnley felt aggrieved about a couple of VAR calls but, having led at Bournemouth, lost 2-1. And Sheffield United collapsed in the second half at Arsenal, losing 5-0. After 10 games each, they have just 10 points between them – and three of those came when Burnley beat Luton. Together, they have a goal difference of -50. The gulf between the Premier League and Championship has perhaps never been so stark.

This is the way of modern soccer. The rich get richer and the rest get left behind. The idea there has ever been one smooth pyramid flowing from the top all the way down to the National League and the regional leagues beyond that has probably always been slightly fanciful, but the steps between tiers are becoming increasingly pronounced. There is a shelf too between League One and the Championship, as the travails of Sheffield Wednesday (promoted last season and bottom of the Championship this), Wigan (promoted in 2021-22 and relegated last season) and Rotherham (promoted alongside Wigan and third-bottom of the Championship this season) demonstrate.

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Manchester United left feeling blue after City boss derby – Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Will Unwin as City comfortably beat United in the game of the weekend

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On the podcast today: Manchester City’s second-half performance against Manchester United was possibly their best of the season, but the bigger questions are aimed at the hosts. The panel ponder why Jonny Evans was in the starting XI and when they last signed a decent midfielder.

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Shambolic Manchester United are nowhere near closing gap on City | Jonathan Wilson

Old Trafford defeat shows how far Erik ten Hag’s side are off the pace, even when Manchester City were sloppy in the first half

Football is an increasingly complicated game, all half‑spaces and passing lanes, pressing patterns and probabilities, but some aspects remain very simple. Such as, if you’re playing against the most prolific elite-level striker in the world, you don’t give him a free header at the back post. And if you’ve got away with doing that just before half-time, you certainly don’t give him an even easier chance just after the break.

Manchester United can protest about a soft penalty and they can ponder what might have happened had Rasmus Højlund or Scott McTominay taken one of the chances that fell their way in the first half, but what should disappoint them is that against an unusually sloppy Manchester City they lost because they were even sloppier. That’s 34 Premier League defeats now at Old Trafford in the 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the same number as they endured in more than two decades under him.

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One look at Manchester United and those nagging doubts about City fade away | Jonathan Wilson

Pep Guardiola’s side have yet to fully hit their stride but by comparison with their derby rivals the doubts are minor

On the face of it, Jérémy Doku has had an impressive start to life at Manchester City. He scored the equaliser early in the second half against West Ham, helped himself to another goal against RB Leipzig, and was brilliant in the first half against Brighton last Saturday, darting to the line to cut the ball back for Julian Álvarez’s opener and generally tormenting James Milner.

His check and acceleration to swoop past Igor Julio before his cross for Álvarez was simple but devastating. Already he looks the sort of winger no full-back can risk being exposed against. What more could be asked of a 21-year-old moving to a new country, making the huge step up from Rennes?

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