Luke Shaw played a blinder but can still improve, Eden Hazard remains central to Chelsea and Deulofeu is coming of ageLuke Shaw’s display at Old Trafford was his best for Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, according to the interim manager. To see Mohamed Salah replaced on 79 minutes was all the evidence required. Solskjær said: “[When] they take Mohamed Salah off you know Luke Shaw has played a good game.” The left-back was a blur of defensive obstinacy. Solskjær said Salah’s threat meant Shaw could not attack as much as desired and this is understandable given the forward’s quality. But the prevailing caveat regarding Shaw’s contribution in most games is that he does not create enough when roving forward....
Arsenal are back on top of the table but victory over West Ham papered over defensive issues while Chelsea are back in formArsenal shot back to the top of the league with a 4-2 win over West Ham, but this was a far from perfect performance. The teams went into half-time at 2-2, and the leaders were then given what their usually mild-mannered manager, Joe Montemurro, described as their biggest telling-off of the season. He spent much of the last two weeks training against long balls and set pieces, only to watch his side twice fail to deal with long kicks from the West Ham goalkeeper, Becky Spencer, which released the Swiss forward Alisha Lehmann to set up Scotland’s Jane...
Arsenal’s Australian coach fixed a leaky defence then introduced ‘balance and management’ to startling effectHow do you build a buccaneering team who sweep away all before them? How do you turn a team who suffer a 3-1 cup final defeat by invincible double winners into one who demolish them 5-0 in their next meeting to maintain an unbeaten start to a new season?Joe Montemurro’s three-quarter season in charge at Arsenal was about laying the foundations for just such a transformation. Working without expectations with a team laden with stars – not least four Dutch European Championship winners – but lacking direction, the Australian set about his task. Related: Hats off to Arsenal’s manager – not just Emery but Montemurro too...
Unai Emery’s mix of grit and total football has rejuvenated Arsenal but his start to the season does not match that overseen by Joe Montemurro with the women’s teamHaving lived in London for a long time I have a lot of friends who are Arsenal fans and, like many of them, I was critical of the club during the final years of Arsène Wenger’s reign as manager. Everything seemed to have gone stale and there was a desperate need for change, which finally arrived in the shape of Unai Emery. Watching on, it’s been interesting to see the immediate, positive impact he has had.The Carabao Cup win against Blackpool on Wednesday made it 13 games unbeaten for Arsenal. Emery has...