Arsenal have proved they have team spirit, Cesc Fàbregas is invaluable to Chelsea despite sub’s role and Gylfi Sigurdsson is the man to guide Swansea to safetyAre Arsenal made of sterner stuff these days? It is not the first time the question has been aired in recent years, and the answer usually goes down a predictably shaky path. Having said that, Arsène Wenger has observed a few clues in their victory against a strong Stoke City side that give him quiet optimism. Among the good habits his team are enjoying this season, the capacity to come back from a deficit encourages him. “It’s the sixth time that we are down in the game and come back or win since the...
Eddie Howe’s team have bucked the established system for sides promoted to the Premier League and they continue to make headlinesBournemouth were a quaint novelty when they began their Premier League adventure in the summer of 2015, with their tiny stadium, unfashionable British core of players and seaside homeliness, a combination that seemed to make people want to ruffle Eddie Howe’s hair, pinch his cheeks and give him a bar of chocolate as a reward for doing ever so well. It wasn’t going to last, of course. How could it? Look at the little scamps, with their tiny stadium, unfashionable British core and seaside homeliness, a combination that was surely going to get them relegated.By the end of their first...
Liverpool will be hoping Joël Matip gets fit quickly, while Sunderland begin to look more solid and Burnley have to find some goals from somewhereHands have been wrung and doom predicted about Philippe Coutinho’s injury, likely to keep him out of the Liverpool team until next month. And to an extent, rightly so: he has been their most impressive attacking threat this season, and the sight of that front four dovetailing has perhaps been the most pleasing in the division. However, the 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday suggested that another injury absence might be more significant, namely Joël Matip. The Cameroonian centre-half has been a quiet, calm example of consistency, exactly the sort of thing that Liverpool missed against...
The Cherries’ historic win from nowhere proves that emotion can still triumph over logicOut of deference to AFC Bournemouth’s 117-year history it seems proper to suggest there may have been more extraordinary high points than this in their footballing history. But let’s face it, there haven’t. On an increasingly wild afternoon on the south coast Eddie Howe’s high-energy team played their part in one of the great, and greatly improbable, Premier League games.Not only did Bournemouth come back from 3-1 down to win 4-3, barely coming up for air in a second half of relentless motion. They did so after completely they were suffocated for the opening half as Liverpool’s tourniquet of malevolent lime-green shirts took what looked to be...
Alan Pardew is under pressure at Palace, José Mourinho must back his midweek stars and the omens are there for Manchester City to end Chelsea’s winning runOne of the biggest accusations aimed at José Mourinho down the years has been that he favours workmanlike players who can follow instructions over unpredictable talents who are harder to control but more likely to decide a game with a moment of genius. Mourinho’s treatment of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial at Manchester United has provided his critics with more ammunition. But now is the time for the United manager to give both of them a proper run in his strongest side. Mkhitaryan created Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s early opener in Wednesday’s League Cup win over...