Yahoo News Alan Smith’s weekend briefing: West Ham vs Chelsea, Arsenal vs Everton, Brighton vs Tottenham and more
Walcott needed to move... but will he now come back to haunt the Gunners?
I’m sure Theo Walcott will receive a warm welcome when he steps out at his old home on Sunday. Why shouldn’t he? The lad scored 108 goals during his time in north London, always giving his best, often in a side searching for the right blend without success.
There’s no doubt Walcott needed to move. Not only had he fallen out of the reckoning, his game had stood still for a number of years. New methods delivered by a different voice in a fresh environment was always likely to reinvigorate the flying winger.
Just like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at Liverpool before he got injured, Walcott now explicitly understands what’s expected on a matchday, whether under Sam Allardyce last season or now Marco Silva, who must still be fuming about his side’s poor display against West Ham. All in all, that makes a pumped-up Walcott (below) a genuine threat against an Arsenal side that, during the course of 90 minutes, do like to offer a few moments of encouragement.
Unai Emery must be wondering whether to break up the defensive partnership of Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis, which has started in every League game without convincing. Mustafi, though rested for last night’s Europa League win over FC Vorskla, looks the most vulnerable to me.
Forget the rumours: Spurs just need more self-belief to escape this rut
All is not well. That much is clear. That comes into sharp focus when the normally affable Mauricio Pochettino starts getting aggy with the media, as he did following Tuesday night’s Champions League defeat to Inter Milan.
Then rumours start to circulate about players being unhappy with the tough training regime. You know the one. It has been in place ever since Pochettino (right) took charge. It’s the one that caused no problems when the team was flying. Only now, after three defeats on the trot, do these kinds of stories surface.
But that’s all part and parcel of life at a big club. Scrutiny intensifies. Whispers spread, whether or not they are actually true.
Pochettino will certainly know from the in-house stats if the intensity has dropped, as it appeared to last week against an impressive Liverpool side. He will know exactly who isn’t reaching the required levels.
It could, of course, just be a case of confidence. I know from experience that when you’re not playing well you find it harder to run. For some inexplicable reason, the legs don’t work as well when doubts start to creep in. If true, Spurs can’t allow that to continue. This tussle with Brighton must see more self-belief.
He may be tired but West Ham need a plan to stop Hazard
When Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri admitted this week that Eden Hazard was feeling “a little bit tired”, I wondered if it marked the start of a trend over the next couple of months.
I mean, Hazard wasn’t the only one to go a long way in the World Cup. Several other Premier League stars gave just as much, as they have for club and country over these opening weeks.
It’s a delicate balancing act for managers, particularly those involved in Europe. You want to give these cup competitions your very best while protecting the main men pivotal to your overall chances in a long season.
And Hazard, of course, is definitely one of those. In fact, it hasn’t taken Sarri long to ponder whether the Belgian is actually Europe’s No1 player, never mind in the top five, so impressive has he been up until now.
So after being rested for last night’s Europa League win over PAOK Salonika in Greece, the little No10, for sure, will feature heavily in West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini’s thoughts going into Sunday’s derby match.
How do we go about stopping someone like this, so quick, skilful and strong when he gets going? No easy answer on that one. You just have to try to head him off at the pass by putting in some kind of challenge before he gets anywhere near goal.
For the likes of Mark Noble, Declan Rice and Pedro Obiang — all of whom were very effective at Everton last week — that forms part of the task.
At Goodison Park, I was especially pleased for Rice in the deep, holding role. After being hooked at half-time at Liverpool on the first day of the season, the lad bounced back in style to cleverly shield the back four with some cute interceptions and perceptive positioning.
He’ll certainly need the confidence gained from that performance to shine again, to cope with the movement and class of Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and the irrepressible N’Golo Kante. These three are fast turning into the top division’s best midfield, given the variation of skills included in the trio.
Sarri has got to be encouraged by the vast potential here, even though he says he’s still disappointed with some of Chelsea’s defensive work.
The question is: can West Ham exploit those perceived shortcomings to further move away from the team’s awful start?
After his brace at Everton, Andriy Yarmolenko should be feeling pretty good, as should Marko Arnautovic (left) if he shakes off an injury. He also scored at Goodison and together, they are more than capable of landing a punch or two.
Wilfried should take knocks as a recognition of his skill
Wilfried Zaha’s comments last week caused quite a stir. All that stuff about the lack of protection from referees when he constantly gets fouled.
“I feel like before anyone gets a red card I would have to get my leg broken or something,” said the forward.
Well, it will be interesting to see if the outburst has any effect on tomorrow’s ref should Newcastle dish out a bit of rough treatment.
Being the ultra-thorough boss he is, Rafa Benitez will have made plans for the Palace dangerman. But given those comments, not to mention Newcastle’s position at the foot of the table, Benitez will have to be careful he doesn’t get a man sent off.
More generally, I think Zaha has got to find a better way of coping with the attention. As several people have already pointed out, these fouls should be regarded as a compliment to the player’s great ability. Don’t get so wound up. Take it in your stride. Concentrate on your game and trust the officials to concentrate on theirs.
To find an example of this attitude, Zaha need only look across town to Eden Hazard, who invariably tops the charts at the end of each season as the most fouled player. But notice his reaction after getting up-ended. It’s usually quite calm and even-tempered, as if he takes pride in the fact this is the only way to stop him.
For Zaha, this must be the best way to go.
Fulham must find the consistency of Watford
One manager knows his best team, picking the same line-up for all five Premier League games, while the other chops and changes in search of the right mix.
Mind you, switching constantly is only to be expected of Slavisa Jokanovic, having brought in so many new players to attack Fulham’s return to the big time.
The policy hasn’t been without its hiccups either and his team have the division’s worst defensive record.
Despite this, Watford’s former manager promises to stick to his beliefs. Rather than become more pragmatic, he actually argues for more bravery, the type lacking, he thought, at Manchester City last week.
In Hertfordshire, meanwhile, Javi Gracia isn’t getting too upset about last Saturday’s defeat to Manchester United.
In some ways, I bet he thought it useful to stop everyone talking about Watford and their brilliant start. A very modest sort, he looks like the type happy out of the spotlight while quietly picking up points at a pleasing rate.
This could be a chance to do exactly that should Troy Deeney (left) and Andre Gray get the better of a constantly changing rearguard. In stark contrast to Gracia, Jokanovic is yet to pick the same back four. That surely must change in order for the team to start settling down.
