Monday Musing
The myth of experience; Salah can be Slot's machine; Chelsea are ludicrous. Three takeaways from the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
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By Patric Ridge
The Premier League is back, and in our new-look Monday Musing column, we will discuss three of the key talking points from the weekend’s action.
SETTING THE TONE
Everton’s farewell season at Goodison Park could hardly have got off to a worst start.
There is no need to panic, but Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton painted a glum picture, and the issue is, there were decisions made by manager Sean Dyche that compounded the problems on the pitch.
One of those is his insistence on experience. Dyche can, at times, place far too much weight on players having experience — it is why he selected Michael Keane over new signing Jake O’Brien in the absence of Jarrad Branthwaite. It is why he left new signings Jesper Lindstrøm and Iliman Ndiaye on the bench, albeit the latter did come on when the Toffees were already 2-0 down.
Injuries to some key players have not helped Dyche’s case, but his use of Keane in particular is a cause for concern for Evertonians. The 31-year-old would almost certainly leave the club should an acceptable offer arrive before the end of August, yet instead of utilising £17million centre-back O’Brien, Dyche went back to the tried and tested formula of Keane partnering James Tarkowski.
That wouldn’t be as much of an issue, if Keane was able to do the job. Yet it is quite clear, he simply can’t. In the past two seasons, Keane has featured in 21 Premier League matches — Everton have won only three of those, conceding 42 goals (2.0 per game). Was he at fault entirely? Of course not. But the picture is clear: Everton are a poorer side when he plays.
And then there is Ashley Young. The 39-year-old was Dyche’s only realistic choice at right-back, yet let his manager and team-mates down with a ludicrous challenge on Kaoru Mitoma to get himself sent off. Now, Everton have none of their three right-back options available for what is just their second game of the season. A failure of recruitment, yes, but also could Dyche have handled the situation better? Considering youngster Roman Dixon — who featured during pre-season — was for some reason left out of the squad against Brighton. Instead, Mason Holgate, who has been told he can leave the club, came on and could well be set to start against Tottenham on Saturday.
If Everton are to progress this season, then their man
ager simply has to let some of his old habits die. Experience is not always the answer, when that experience has a consistently poor record.
SLOT’S MACHINE
Liverpool kick-started Arne Slot’s tenure with a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town.
The Reds meandered through the first half, but clicked through the gears after the break, with Mohamed Salah integral.
Having been on the fringes of the action before half-time, Salah made a fantastic run to evade Leif Davis and get on the end of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s searching throughball before unselfishly laying it square for Diogo Jota to finish.
Five minutes later, Salah got his goal, prodding home after interplay with Dominik Szoboszlai. Job done for the Reds, and another Premier League record in the bank for Salah, who became the first player to score in nine opening-day games.
Slot has big shoes to fill at Anfield, and one thing he will certainly need is time for his approach to gel. But if Salah can maintain his output, then that will buy the Dutchman the breathing space he may need through a long season.
CHELSEA ARE LUDICROUS
Raheem Sterling’s representatives made their feelings clear after the Chelsea forward was left out of Enzo Maresca’s squad to face Manchester City on Sunday.
Sterling wants “clarity” over his future, while Maresca — in his post-match press conference — again reiterated the need for Chelsea to trim their bloated squad.
The ridiculous spending of Clearlake Capital shows no sign of slowing down, though. Chelsea really just cannot help themselves. And they have no many players on huge wages, how can they possibly shift them all?
Sterling was not the only big-name absentee from Sunday’s matchday squad. Romelu Lukaku and Trevoh Chalobah are out in the cold; Armando Broja is hoping to leave; Ben Chilwell has been told he can go if a suitable offer arrives.
But for all Chelsea’s investment, they never came close to laying a glove on City at Stamford Bridge, as the champions cruised to a 2-0 success, capped off by a sublime finish from former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
The only thing that might teach Chelsea a lesson is the Premier League’s PSR, yet league executives have so far shown limited desire to punish the club. The league are yet to officially sign off on the Blues selling hotels to themselves, even though they have had close to a year to do so. They are still investigating Chelsea for mysterious payments dating back as far as 2009, despite Chelsea having already admitted a similar breach of financial regulations to UEFA, and paying a fine.
Maresca is being a realist, and is no doubt following instructions from those above him when it comes to players who are to depart. He too is likely frustrated by having too many players in his squad.
But will that stop Chelsea’s owners ploughing more money into incoming signings once they can get another couple out of the door? That’s doubtful.