So, what can we learn from the first weekend of the Premier League season?
From an Arsenal perspective, there’s good news and bad news. Firstly, Chamakh looks like he’ll be a very good signing. He’s willing to mix it up with the defenders physically, and is better than Bendtner in that he’s actually able to control the ball without it bouncing awkwardly off of a shin or a knee. Even during the brief period when Van Persie and Chamakh were on the pitch together, they worked well, with Chamakh’s presence enabling RvP to just drop off a little and try to find some space.
I was similarly impressed by Koscielny, the new centre-back. He’s quicker than I expected, and looks OK in the air. Hopefully he’ll form a good partnership with Vermaelen sooner rather than later. Oh, and harshly done by with the red card, I thought.
The bad news concerns Arsenal’s lack of penetration once more. Despite playing against 10 men for half of the game, and dominating possession, we only rarely threatened the Liverpool goal. We still lack a killer pass, and there didn’t seem to be too much willingness to shoot from distance.
Look at one of Chelsea’s goals which had a big deflection: if you don’t shoot you don’t get lucky. It’s harder to get a goalbound deflection when you’re playing 5-yard sideways passes…
Speaking of Chelsea, it’s a little tiresome to see teams roll over so easily against them. Fine, you’re probably going to get beaten, and it’ll probably be 2 or 3-0. But don’t just lay down and give them 6, 7, or 8 goals, for crying out loud. Yes, you could say it’s Chelsea being relentless in their attacking, but for me it’s a lack of fight from the opposition.
Chelsea looked impressive, again, and Manchester United eventually got going against a pretty poor Newcastle team. I still think both are very reliant on their centre-forwards, and Arsenal will be competitive in the league with them again this year.
Whether we can compete during the 90 minutes against each team is a different story. They seem to have figured us out, but hopefully our defence will be better this season. We definitely need a goalkeeper though, and I’d like to see Shay Given arrive.
That’s more likely now that he’s no longer the first-choice at Man City, who flattered to deceive in their first game. I thought Tottenham looked very good, although that has been tempered somewhat by their performance last night, especially defensively. Bale looks like he’s picked up where he’s left off though.
City’s defence seems equally porous, which is odd considering the number of defensive midfielders they deployed on the pitch. Up front, the Spanish winger Silva looks fantastic, especially centrally. Man City are going to be one of those teams that wins games 3-2 or 4-3 rather than 1-0.
Elsewhere, Wigan looked awful, West Ham too. Despite Blackpool’s win, I expect them to be relegated, joined by Wigan and one of the two clubs with West in their name. Newcastle, Wolves, Stoke and Birmingham will stay up by virtue of not being as bad as those three, even if they will get a thumping at some of the bigger teams.
That’s the first weekend done and dusted, only another 37 games to go!
Tomorrow sees Wayne Bridge and John Terry on the same pitch for the first time since all of the revelations came out about Terry and Bridge’s ex. It’s going to be fun to watch, and there are a few things you should be looking out for:
In the pre-match build-up, Sky to talk endlessly about the two coming face-to-face for the first time.
Or, Sky failing entirely to mention the elephant in the room.
In the tunnel, Bridge choosing to stand at the back of his team, as far away from Terry as possible.
The camera to linger on Bridge and Terry during the pre-match handshake.
I actually think Bridge will refuse to shake his hand, and give him a proper daggers look.
The first tackle between the two to be a foul, and to result in a melee of sorts.
Bridge to get injured (not necessarily by Terry).
Terry to get sent off (not necessarily for fouling Bridge, although that would be nice for the storyline).
Drogba to writhe around on the floor after being in the vicinity of Bridge for the first time.
