#EPL #Week13 #5 things we learnt this past week

BY IKECHUKWU KENNETH

 Hello guys and welcome to the weekly review of the Epl round of matches. After Week 13 round of matches, it is glaring that there is trouble in Wembley, and Everton isn’t faring better either. Also, both Manchester clubs barely managed to grind out narrow victories, as Chelsea and Liverpool dropped points playing out an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Anfield. Arsenal got lucky against Burnley, and Leciester City held West ham to a draw. But here are the five things we learnt this past week on the EPL.

 1.GUESS WHAT THE PULL IS, NOW THAT TONY IS GONE.

After the week 12 round of fixtures, West Brom manager, Tony Pulis, was laid off as coach of The Baggies. The now former manager had led the club to a very poor start in  the English Premier league this season, as they currently sit 17th on the log. The scandalous loss against Antonio Conte's men at the Hawthorns was the final straw that broke the camel’s back, and Tony Pulis’ head was on a platter thereafter. Worst possible timing you would think, considering that the first task of the new care taker coach was a trip to Wembley to play Tottenham Hotspur, who themselves were fresh from beating Borrusia Dortmund, in Signal Iduna Park, in a champions league group game in the midweek. But on match day, Salomon Rondon had fired them into a shock early lead after the Venezuelan had shrugged off the challenge of Davidson Sanchez, and still had enough strength in him to squeeze a shot past the flat footed Hugo Loris in the Tottenham goal. However, it wasn’t the fact that West Brom had managed to score that was the talking point of the match, it was the way in which they had built up themselves to defend the goal that drew admiration from the baggies fans who had been booing their players in previous matches. Ironically, the defensive set up was a reminiscent of what they used to have under Tony Pulis, last season, when the going was good.

After Salomon Randon had fired them ahead as early as the 4th minute, Tottenham had come straight at them with Dele Alli and Harry Kane leading the charge. But the defensive partnership of former Manchester united defender, Johnny Evans, and Egyptian Ahmed Hegazi, stood strong and resolute, as they continued to diffuse attack after attack.

Although England forward Harry Kane finally broke the visitors' resistance by tapping a Dele Alli cross through Ben Foster's legs on 74 minutes, the baggies held on to earn a point for themselves. Tony pulis would have been proud of this result, has he has made a name for himself in England as a defence strategist, but sadly, he isn’t with them any longer. However, the new permanent manager at the hawthorns must strive to improve upon the structure that Tony Pulis had left in place, if he is to ensure that the club remains in the elite division of the English Premier league.

2. THE FESTIVITIES APPROACH AND SALAH IS THE MAIN DEAL

In recent years, London club, Chelsea, have lost potential world beaters to clubs all around Europe. If losing Kevin Debruyne to Man city irks the lot of Chelsea fans, then many more would be further infuriated after the performance Mohammed Salah put in against the blues in Anfield. The Egyptian had come into the match as leading scorer in the English Premier league, having teamed up with The Reds from the Merseyside, in the summer of the 2017/18 season. Signed from Italian giant, AS Roma, the 25 year old became the club’s record signing, after putting pen to paper on a deal worth an initial £36.9 million and a further £7 million in add-ons. And since his debut, the former Chelsea man has made his transfer fee look a bargain.

On match day, against his former employers, the Egyptian speedster ran the entire Chelsea defence ragged on numerous counter attacks, eventually getting the goal that put the Reds in front in the second half. Deployed on the right of the three man attack, the left footed forward kept pressuring the Chelsea back line taunting Alonso and Tim Cahill severally, and his snap shot late in the second half was expertly parried by the very alert Thibaut Courtois. Currently on 10 Epl goals, and 4 assists, Mo Salah has won admiration from all and sundry, with many proclaiming him the ‘buy of the season’ already. On the goal scoring charts, he is currently ahead of Tottenham’s Harry Kane, Chelsea’s Alvaro Morata, and Manchester united’s Rom luxury Lukaku, but who is to say he wouldn’t score more. His style of play sits perfectly with Jurgen Klopp’s brand of adrenaline rush counter attacking and high pressing football tactic. His blistering pace and trickery enables him to glide past players with relative ease. Coupled with that, the young Egyptian, who only recently scored the winning goal to take his country to the Russia Mundial in 2018, is an intelligent footballer who possesses an almost perfect understanding of the English game. Ten goals in twelve premier league appearances so far is no mean feat, and he would surely get more goals when the games come in thick and fast over the festive period.

3. WHAT THE STATS DO NOT SEE

Sometimes, statistics do not tell the full story in football. Manchester united summer signing, and superstar Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, has been touted by many as the best striker in the world under the age of 25. Why? Because his stats are simply amazing. The Belgian, who recently became the record goal scorer for his country at the age of 24, boosts 93 goals in 199 premier league appearances spread across stints with Chelsea, Westbrom, Everton, and more recently, Manchester united. Also, the Big Rom has managed to register 31 assists in that same number of matches. In just this season, the Belgian has managed to score 8 goals and 3 assists in 12 Epl appearances. Wonderful, right? Well, maybe not. After starting the season in fine form, scoring 10 in 10, Romelu Lukaku has suddenly hit a dry spell, scoring just once in the last 10 matches across all competitions. Then begins the debate as to how good he really is, stats aside. 

On the weekend, against Brighton and Hoves, at the Theatre of Dreams, the big striker missed many chances to kill off the game. First, he played a brilliant give and take with Anthony Martial, in the first half, just around the Brighton box. On receiving the return pass, he cuts onto his left foot, leaving the defender for dead, and then somehow he manages to sky the ball, when it would have been easier to score than miss. Then there was the cross from the right from Marcus Rashford which he headed straight at the Brighton goalie, with the goal at his mercy. Many of such misses have been recorded in previous matches where Manchester United manage to grind out victories, but the stats don’t cover those. 

Also, the striker has largely been criticized for his poor first touch, and he really needs to work on that first touch. The best strikers of the world all have excellent first touches, and if Lukaku is to come near the likes of Didier Drogba, Ronaldo Delima, Zlatan Ibrahimovic etc then he needs to learn to control the ball well.

4. MAN CITY ARE READY FOR EVERYTHING, AFTER ANOTHER STERLING PERFORMANCE.

Epl champions elect (aren’t they already?) Manchester City were made to work hard and long to come from behind and keep all three points for themselves as they went to visit the ground that their Manchester neighbors had fallen. 

The match had started with City constantly preying around the goal area of their hosts. They should have been two or three goals up before the 20th minutes if Sergio Kun Aguero had done well to put away the early chances that came his way. However, against the run of play, man city’s Nicholas Otamendi had the ball in his own net following a Huddersfield corner kick in the first half. And then it was more of the same. Man City pressed high, and Huddersfield were contented with sitting back deep, and occasionally springing out on counters. However the first half ended with the Terriers with their noses in front. 

Second half came too soon for Huddersfield, as they conceded an early penalty, after Raheem Sterling was felled in the box, that Sergio Aguero dispatched with ease. The match remained a draw for the larger part of the second half, with City mounting pressure high up the Huddersfield end. And in the 85th minute, Sterling put City 1-2 up after the ball rebounded off him and into the net. City held on to win the match and in the process, owned some mouth watering records. 

The win at the home of the Terriers was their 11th successive English Premier league away win. Also, they have gone 25 games unbeaten in all competitions this season, and have gathered 18 wins in a row in all competitions. Defeating David Wagner’s men means that Pep Guardiola has orchestrated the first City away win in 22 years after losing at half time. More importantly, City now boast the best ever start by a premier league team. Is there any stopping this team?

5. BAKAYOKO IS SO BAD, HE CANNOT EVEN "MARK" MY WORD

There was so much fuzz when the young French man was penciled as a potential target for Antonio Conte's Chelsea, and much more noise was made when he eventually signed for the London club. Following his stellar performance for AS  Monaco, the blues had brought him on board to replace Manchester United bound Nemanja Matic, and also compliment the efforts of N'golo Kante (not like Ngolo even needs any help). 

The France international flattered to deceive on his Epl debut, and many fans marked him for greater things at the club. And then Ngolo Kante was injured, and the true Timoue Bakayoko showed. First it was the match against Crystal Palace, where he had been paired with Cesc Fabregas, where Yohann Cabaye super-impositioned himself on him. Then again, when Watford came visiting, Dacoure had him schooled, as Bakayoko ultimately lost the midfield battle to the Belgian. And more recently, against Liverpool, the French man was no where to be found in the middle of the park, as the Reds trio of Coutinho, Milner and Henderson dictated the play from start to end. Timoue Bakayoko loses the ball easily, and quite consistently too. His marking is not any better, as players do not need to do much to glide past him with ease. 

Ngolo Kante can do bad all by himself, but Baka needs to step up his marking game. He should mark my words (i doubt if he can) if he does not step up, fully fit again Danny Drinkwater would confine him to the bench.