In Week 3 of the Premier League, Manchester United earned a (very) late win against Hull, Liverpool and Tottenham played out a high-intensity 1-1 draw and Raheem Sterling scored twice as Manchester City beat West Ham at home. In our weekly roundtable, FanSided’s soccer staff share their reactions.
Mauricio Pochettino shows his true, cautious colors
James Dudko, @JamesDudko
Mauricio Pochettino has been a media darling for the last Premier League season and a bit. He merited most of the praise after taking Tottenham closer to the title last season than they have been in a generation.
But something’s been lost amid all the Poch plaudits. Namely how overly pragmatic the Argentine manager is. Spurs are unbeaten this season, but they’ve drawn two out of three and haven’t scored more than one goal in any game.
It’s ironic that a club with a strong history of valuing open and attractive football is currently led by a coach who is so downright dull tactically.
The Poch pragmatism was never more alive and sleeping than during this weekend’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool. Spurs were the home side, although you’d never have known it from the pattern of the game.
All the exciting football came from the visitors, who moved the ball in quick and slick exchanges between combinations of stylish playmakers. Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino ran the show in the final third, while Dutch maestro Georginio Wijnaldum, a hugely underrated talent, was happy to quietly conduct the headline acts like a silent stage manager with a Mensa brain.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s artisans glided across the White Hart Lane pitch trying to one-up each other with anything he can do, I can do better displays of impish flair and technical bravado.
Playing the role of spoilers of this pass-and-move carnival were Tottenham and Pochettino’s ode to shut-up shops everywhere.
There were three aspects of Pochettino’s team selection and tactical adjustments that summed up Spurs’ negativity. The first was the decision to partner newly acquired midfield destroyer Victor Wanyama with current midfield destroyer Eric Dier in front of the back four.
There’s no more clear signal that defense is valued more than attack than when a team deploys two holding players more adept at breaking up play than advancing it.
Score one for the depressing practice of negation over the free-form art of creation.
Spurs trusted their five-man midfield to keep it tight (football parlance for rarely crossing the halfway line) while expecting miracles from isolated striker Harry Kane. Tottenham’s prolific number 10 soon featured in Pochettino’s second love letter to pragmatism.
It came after James Milner had given Liverpool the lead from the penalty spot. The Reds continued to overrun Spurs, and Pochettino needed a change. Fortunately, he was forced into one when injured right back Kyle Walker left the pitch.
Poch actually introduced a second striker in the form of summer import Vincent Janssen. Stop the press. But it was too good to be true. Tottenham’s tactical honcho just couldn’t resist reaching for the handbrake again.
Instead of pushing Janssen alongside Kane and going two up top, the Poch dropped Kane back into an attacking midfield position, all to maintain his 4-2-3-1 formation.
That Spurs fought back and equalized through Danny Rose owed more to their exceptional work-rate and dogged determination. Those are the true hallmarks of Pochettino’s tenure, as it’s fair to say no team in England’s top flight can match Spurs for resilience and graft. All they need now is a little more ambition to attack.
It didn’t come when Pochettino introduced teenage midfielder Joshua Onomah off the bench with the match level at 1-1. Not when it was Kane who inexplicably gave way.
Subbing your best goalscorer when you need a goal to win spoke volumes of Spurs’ ultra-cautious approach. It was a full-throated shout that announced Pochettino believes not only can you never be too careful, but that you always should be.
His blueprint actually helped Spurs score the second most goals in the league last season. But they came in a campaign where Chelsea imploded, Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United believed the forward pass was a myth, Arsenal left their shooting boots in Arsene Wenger’s basement and Leicester took the title scoring just 68 goals.
The game changed once Pep Guardiola signed a new legion of forwards to go with Manchester City’s current legion of forwards. The game changed the moment Jose Mourinho went all Bruce Wayne to add Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Pochettino has made Spurs stubborn and tougher to break down. But breaking out of their pragmatic shackles is the only way for this talented squad to take the next step and stay relevant in the Premier League’s arms race.
Raheem Sterling is feeling the love
Michael Harshbarger, @timhalpert
Raheem Sterling is only 21 years old. It seems like he should be older by now.
The Jamaican-born England international signed with Liverpool in 2010, and played in a preseason friendly with the first team that August. At the time, a co-worker showed me video of Sterling in action with the reserves. “He’s going to be great,” my co-worker said. He was 15.
Sterling scored his first league goal for Liverpool in March of 2012, coming on as a substitute against Wigan. He logged two more appearances by the end of the Premier League season. He was 17.
His talent was evident. He was going to be a big part of Liverpool’s future success. He was going to be great.
His Premier league appearances jumped the following season and steadily rose from there: he made 24 appearances in 2012-13 including 19 starts, scoring two goals and notching two assists. The next year he made 24 starts with a total 33 appearances. He enjoyed his most productive scoring season, netting nine goals and adding five assists. His final season with the Reds saw him appear in 35 league matches, all but one as a starter. He had seven goals and seven assists.
These are good numbers for an attacking midfielder who also plays out wide and occasionally as a striker. Are the great? For a teenager, they were close. He certainly wasn’t world class, but it was fairly clear Sterling would keep getting better and would, more than likely, reach the upper echelon of Premier League stars.
So why did Liverpool let him leave?
As it became clear that Sterling had outgrown his current — and inexpensive — contract, Liverpool entered into negotiations with the young attacker. During a press conference in the middle of 2014-15, then Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers told the press that Sterling was being offered “an incredible deal,” going on to praise his budding star for his progress and potential.
That, however, wasn’t all he had to say. It was odd enough that the manager felt the need to go into detail regarding the contract, instead of trumpeting the company line — “a deal will be done soon” — as he had in the past. But he went on to say “… we’re certainly not a club that is going to give way, way above what a player is worth … I’m talking about any young player. It’s very important young players have something to strive for.”
At the time, all were assured Sterling was happy, but in April 2015, in an interview with the BBC, he defended his choice to turn down the £100,000-a-week contract from Liverpool. Rodgers was furious, directing his vitriol at Sterling’s advisors and agent. He still believed his player would stay, but by July Sterling was a Manchester City player.
Liverpool supporters were outraged. Former players were outraged. Everyone was outraged. Words likely “loyalty” and “ungrateful” were tossed around.
The fog of discontent and uneasiness was still hanging around as the 2015-16 season began; so much so that Sterling avoided talking to the press entirely after scoring his first competitive goal for his new club in late August.
He spent his first season at City under the tutelage of manager Manuel Pellegrini. Sterling started 23 games during the campaign, his lowest number of starts since his initial breakout season with Liverpool in 2012-13. He scored six league goals, but never appeared to reach the form he had attained with the Reds, seeming to lack confidence on the ball. Some went so far as to call him the worst signing of the season.
Then Pep Guardiola came to Manchester in the offseason. Man City are 4-0 in all competitive matches this season, and a certain winger looks nigh unstoppable. Sterling has played every minute of his club’s first three Premier League matches. He looks confident, active, and generally more comfortable in his current surroundings. His two goal, Man of the Match performance against West Ham on Sunday was the highlight of what has been a very encouraging season so far. So what’s changed?
Guardiola claims it’s all very simple: it’s all about the love, baby. Pep affectionately refers to his young star as “Raz,” saying he “now feels the love — and believe me that is the difference. I mean, do you think that I can improve his skill in just one-and-a-half months? No.”
Pep says that managers show their love through the playing time they dole out: “… Raz is showing his quality because, maybe last season, he played one weekend and then didn’t play the next. When a player isn’t playing he feels, ‘The coach doesn’t love me’ … Raz is playing, so he is happy.”
Maybe it really is that simple, or maybe Guardiola is being modest. Regardless, the Spaniard looks set to add to his ever expanding legacy as one of the greatest managers of all time. If the return of Sterling ends up being permanent, it will be another feather in his cap.
One thing is for sure: Sterling doesn’t have to hide from the press anymore.
Jose Mourinho has decisions to make after impressive sub appearances
Anthony Gallo, @Gallo_Calcio
It was a slow match for a Manchester United team that were heavy favorites against newly promoted Hull. The away side was dominant throughout the 90 minutes, creating numerous chances on goal, but the strong play of Hull keeper Eldin Jakupovic and center back Curtis Davies caused United a headache far too often.
Man United had 29 attempts — mostly from open play — compared to Hull’s eight. Not to forget they had 62 percent possession as well.
Even though they were the stronger side, Jose Mourinho’s men didn’t look to be that much better than Hull. Yes, they had the most chances and the better players, but Hull’s game plan of holding down the fort and waiting for a counter was good enough to hold the winningest team in England for most of the match.
Paul Pogba put in another solid performance, looking to create chances himself from distance, but also getting his teammates involved.
You would think against a team like Hull that such players as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial would be the centerpieces of a win. However, it was the play of two substitutes, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford, that helped United nab three points at the KCOM Stadium.
The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder has looked to be a bench player for Mourinho early on, playing 29 minutes in the first two matches. The match on Saturday was Mkhitaryan’s longest appearance for United in Premier League play, and to me he proved that he should play a bigger role on his new team.
Mkhitaryan looked comfortable in his role in the middle. He made some nice runs and made smart passes, trying to be involved in the attack as much as he could. He would replace Martial in the 60th minute, and was actually a better passer and had more touches than the young French player, who almost looked invisible on Saturday.
He also seemed to have brought a spark into his team when he entered the match. If Mourinho wants to see the full potential of his Armenian international, he should give him more playing time in a role that best suits him.
The 18-year-old England international Marcus Rashford made his first appearance of the 2016-17 season. Mourinho, like many, rates this youngster highly. Rashford didn’t disappoint, and looked like he actually could’ve had two or three goals.
As it was, one was enough as Rashford broke the deadlock with his tap in off a Rooney cross. The energy he brought into this match was key, and that could make him into a ‘super sub’ when United need a late goal.
It may not happen fast, but Mourinho might have to think hard about giving Mkhitaryan his first start of year, and how he wants to develop Rashford going forward. The Special One has a solid supporting cast of players at his disposal; let’s see how he uses them in the coming fixtures.