Familiar talking points arose from the win at Newcastle but its key figure embodied the manic unscripted drama we loveChaos. Chaos in the first half, chaos in the second half. Chaos in the Liverpool defence and chaos in the Newcastle defence. Chaos in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s mind, in Virgil van Dijk’s mind, perhaps in the referee’s mind. Chaos so thoroughly chaotic that it rendered the most chaotic Premier League player of all into a clanking totem of clinically icy finishing.Football is a sport we try to rationalise. We try to explain it with data and diagrams. We try to reduce the random by having referees’ decisions checked in slow motion and by endlessly rewriting the laws. But sometimes the random just...
Spurs have found midfield balance, Sean Dyche needs changes and Brighton are still a step ahead of the gameThe last time Luton visited Stamford Bridge for a league fixture, George HW Bush was US president, Bryan Adams was in the middle of his monster 16-week stay at the top of the charts with (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, and Liverpool had just broken the British transfer record by paying £2.9m for Derby’s Dean Saunders. The record has gone up a touch since August 1991 but again the Hatters visit west London in the wake of a new spending benchmark being set, and the player in question could well be in line for a first start for his...
Both teams are desperately lacking a holding midfielder with discipline and this encounter was fun but worryingly open If, as free-market orthodoxy tells us, price is dependent on the interaction between demand and supply, Brighton and Southampton should probably be thinking of adding a few million to the fees of both Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia. There is only one of each and both Liverpool and Chelsea are in desperate need of players who can add discipline and muscularity to their midfields.There were stories during the hyperinflation in Zimbabwe of golfers who would pay for their drinks before a round because by the time they got to the bar the price would have gone up. Having signed Jude Bellingham for...
Liverpool manager hopes signings will provide fresh hunger but he needs strong backroom personalities around him, tooOn the opening weekend last season, Liverpool went to Fulham and, after twice falling behind, drew 2-2. Coming a week after the Community Shield win over Manchester City, the positive impression of Darwin Núñez seemed to be confirmed but the broader feeling was of doubt. Liverpool just didn’t look at it. They didn’t overwhelm Fulham physically as they had so many teams previously. Fabinho looked off the pace. Virgil van Dijk, such a commanding figure before then, was given a chasing by Aleksandar Mitrovic. Further doubts were raised about Trent Alexander‑Arnold’s defending.Early-season observations can be made to look very silly very quickly. Núñez did...
Luton’s return to the top flight, a return of Everton’s anxieties and a big showdown at Stamford BridgeVincent Kompany’s old club provide a litmus test for his current one for the second time in six months. Burnley were storming towards the Championship title and unbeaten in 18 matches when pitted away at Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals in March. Club officials, as the new Mission to Burnley documentary reveals, viewed the tie as a gauge of Burnley’s Premier League credentials while Kompany fired up his players with talk of Wembley. They were swatted aside 6-0. There is no shame in a sound beating at the home of soon-to-be treble winners but Kompany will expect a more competitive display...