Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s football action
Adam Wharton shines on Merseyside, Mateo Kovacic displays City’s depth and Erik ten Hag gets tetchy
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Wharton does the business at Anfield
Joachim Andersen was named Sky’s man of the match at Anfield and with good reason. But while the Danish centre-back won header after header and made clearance after clearance, and while the front three of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise caused repeated problems on the break, there was one figure who stood out in midfield for his calmness: Adam Wharton, perhaps the brightest of the hugely promising generation brought through by Tony Mowbray at Blackburn. The 20-year-old moved to Palace in January for an initial fee of £18m and has played at least some part in every Crystal Palace game since. No other Palace player came close to his pass completion rate of 88% and, while they rode their luck to an extent in the second half, they’d have had to ride a lot more had it not been for his distribution, which helped prevent Liverpool building up a head of steam.
2
Familiar sinking feeling for Arsenal
A year ago, almost to the day, Arsenal gave up a 2-0 lead at Anfield, and though it didn’t settle the title, the feeling at full-time was that they’d missed their chance, just as it was following Villa’s ultimately comprehensive win at the Emirates. Dishing out blame on the strength of one game is harsh – Mikel Arteta’s men have played another excellent season – but when things got big on them, they shrank. To deal with those on the pitch first, in defence Arsenal lacked discipline – both goals they conceded were eminently avoidable – while in attack, they still lack ruthlessness and a bit of imagination, unable to finish while on top and create when struggling. Their manager, meantime, opted to leave out Jorginho – presumably saving him for the midweek trip to Bayern – problem being that when Villa started to play, his team lacked the means to wrest back control. So City lead the way once again and the sense is that Arsenal have blown it – also once again.
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Different season, same problems?
We’ve read and heard numerous paeans to a three-way title race only for Liverpool and Arsenal to hand control to Manchester City, jeopardising a season’s work and legendary denouement in a single afternoon. Nevertheless, on the face of things this represents an improvement: City can end the season on maximum 91 points, far less troubling than the 98-100 recorded by the league-winners between 2017-18 and 2019-20. This is because the Palaces and Villas of this world – along with nearly every team in the division – have various players able to hurt the best, in theory a good thing but in practice possible mainly because those clubs can outbid more storied European rivals for talent, while the champions-elect, champions in six of the last seven seasons, have links to a nation state with human rights issues. So, while no one can dispute the compelling entertainment of it all – Sunday was another fantastic day of Premier League Football™ – the same problems persist, just in slightly different forms.
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Kovacic emphasises depth for slick City
On the day that Rodri was rested as wished, Mateo Kovacic did precisely what was required as understudy to Manchester City’s alpha midfielder: anchor the play and score a memorable first league goal for the champions. City, only 1-0 ahead, needed the purest of 20-yard volleys that met Julián Álvarez’s bounced-in corner on 64 minutes to fully break Luton, whom they proceeded to rout. Kovacic said: “It’s very nice to score. For me it’s not the most important but obviously it’s nice to be on the scoresheet with my family upstairs.” Expect Rodri to be reinstated for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg visit of Real Madrid, the tie poised delicately at 3-3. But Kovacic has shown Rodri – and Pep Guardiola – that he can certainly deputise for his teammate.
- Match report: Manchester City 5-1 Luton Town
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Ten Hag tries to stay positive, but fails
Erik ten Hag’s first defence of a limp performance at Bournemouth was to stress Harry Maguire, his only available senior centre-back, was nursing an injury during a one-sided first half. That explanation surely did not cut much ice with Manchester United supporters, who have grown weary of the abject displays that have left their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in tatters. For the first time in Premier League history, United are at risk of finishing below seventh. When that possibility was put to Ten Hag at the end of his press conference, he insisted it was an irrelevant question, before getting up from his seat and heading for the nearest exit. “I don’t comment,” he said. “That is not important at the moment.” With United now trailing Newcastle and West Ham and Chelsea not far behind them, it soon might be.
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