This was far from the US's best squad. There were a lot of injuries and Pochettino released players, presumably to take a look at more of the Americans vying for a spot. He probably wasn't delighted at what he saw; we had one shot on target. It was low stakes for CONCACAF's top dogs, since both are in the next World Cup due to being co-hosts (with Canada). What do you think of the Mexico jersey? I can't make up my mind.
The ugly away kit was justly punished in a fashion that is just so Tottenham.
The North Londoners were all over the Seagulls in the first half and Brighton were lucky not to be further behind than 0-2. The second half was a very different story. Ange Postecoglu has never heard of adjusting tactics for game state. His Spurs are told to play the same way every game, all game, whatever the score. So they kept their high defensive line rather than sitting back to protect their lead, and this naivete was punished severely. The 3-2 scoreline at full time was no more than Brighton deserved--or Tottenham.
The PL's top three all won, albeit with some difficulty. Man U held Villa to a scoreless draw, which may have given ten Hag another few weeks of employment. United has some great attacking players (who are poorly coached), but their back line is ravaged by injury and, to put it unkindly, with age. I don't know what happened to Marcus Rashford. I still like him, but Man U seems to have sucked all the joy out of his life.
Here's the current table, just seven games in:
I don't believe that Palace will finish near the relegation zone, and I don't think Manchester United will finish in the bottom half. Fulham and Brighton are doing better than I expected, though I'm happy for the ex-gunners on those teams. Wolves are a shocking last place. Can they turn it around? Southampton is, I think, a sure bet for bottom three. Whether Ipswich and Leicester join them in going back down to the Championship after one season is an open question, with Everton, Palace, and Wolves all doing so poorly. There are no surprises at the top of the table. I expect a more wide-open race for the title this time, though if any team has a chance of running away with it, I think it's Arsenal. City has lost Rodri for the season and they may fade, even with their cyborg goalscorer. Liverpool has had a kind schedule to date. By March, I may be backtracking on these predictions, but my crystal ball has Everton, Leicester, and Southampton going down, Arsenal winning the league, and Liverpool, City, and Villa rounding out the top four. Chelsea 5th, which may be good enough for Champions' League.
This was not the walk in the park I expected. We couldn't break through despite overwhelming possession in the first half. I thought Sterling and Jesus were too slow to make decisions, and didn't always make good ones. I was worried about Partey as right back, but he wasn't tested. Calafiori had a strange game: going forward he looked great, but his best moments on defense were when he had to make recoveries after being beaten by his man. He does not appear to have the pace of a Premier League forward, and is too easily outrun down his side. He also lost his man late in the game and put us under pressure.
But Saka imposed himself on this game. After the Saints' too-easy goal, our main man got two assists and one goal. His corners were more erratic today. but he did put some nice ones in. Havertz was really good again today; his finish for our first was perfect. When the subs came on, I thought it would be Trossard who scored, but Martinelli made a great run and applied a deft finish from a yard out at a tight angle between Ramsdale's legs, on the end of an exquisite cross from Saka. He potted the third goal after a breakaway and a follow off a blocked shot.
I didn't see the PSG game, but the highlights are definitely indicative of the stats. It was a deserved 2-0 win off what I have to say looks like a shadow of the PSG of prior years.
What a crazy game. Leicester tried shutting up shop in the first half and it didn't work. Arsenal's relentless attacks resulted in two decent goals. The Foxes came out swinging after the break and it paid off. A free kick was headed by Justin and took a wicked deflection into the top corner. Then a cross-field ball was volleyed by Justin magnificently off the far post. Maybe a goal of the season. So, 2-2 and an Emirates stadium full of worriers. It took until injury time, off our 17th corner kick, and it was an own goal, but it was definitely coming. The fourth goal came on a counter. Their keeper Hermansen kept Leicester in the game with some smart saves, but in the end we didn't have to explain how we could outshoot an opponent 25-4 and not win.
City drew with Newcastle and Liverpool won. It's getting quite congested at the top of the table.
After losing an early 1-0 lead, Everton 2 Crystal Palace 1, and we are still winless in six games. What happened to the on-fire team that got 16 points out of its last five games just a few months ago? The fire seems to have gone out.
I didn't get to watch either of these games (we were helping a relative move) and saw the highlights afterwards. Wow. The women's game was really good but the men's game had a lot of drama as well as quality. What a hit from Calafiori! It made up for the way he was spun by Savinho earlier in the runup to Haaland's goal. Gabriel's scoring record is phenomenal from corners, I don't have an argument about Trossard's red card; it was harsh but he did clatter into the player from the back with his elbow leading. Arsenal may be the world's toughest team to score against, so I wasn't surprised that we held out for over 50 minutes before City broke through. It was coming. I'd have taken a point before a ball was kicked, and that's what I got.
Ex-gunners Smith-Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Alex Iwobi (Fulham) and Welbeck (Brighton) had a goal or an assist this weekend. Good for them.
You don't get points for hitting the crossbar or for time of possession, unfortunately. Hacken defended really well, and scored on one of their dangerous counters. Now we'll have to win by two at home in the second leg. We'll have to play a lot better than we did today. Chances went begging and no one wanted to shoot.
Jon Ollington's excellent "By the Numbers" column on Arseblog News reveals the possession dominance of Spurs last Sunday, but xG was even. We relied on our strong defense to nullify their attack and in the end a corner kick goal was their undoing. Two of our three goals in our last win in the Toilet Bowl were off corners too. Postecoglou looks rather dumb for failing to do anything to improve Tottenham's ability to defend set pieces (we're not the only team to score against them that way) and opposition goalkeepers must be getting nervous when we take them.
To win without so many important players inspires confidence. But the Spurs game was close, and as I wrote before, Villa could easily have won that game. Nevertheless, we have an awesome away record and will be hoping to extend that run next Sunday at the Etihad.
City's hearing on their financial transgressions started yesterday. I don't expect anything to come out of it.
