Premier League winners and losers: Ten Hag joins superb Saka in winners but Newcastle, Postecoglou blasted

Matt Stead 07 Oct 2024 1:32 PM

Arsenal players celebrate with Bukayo Saka, Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou and unhappy Wolves pair Mario Lemina and Jorgen Strand Larsen

A good weekend for Arsenal; less so Ange and Wolves

Bukayo Saka, Brighton, Michail Antonio and even Erik ten Hag had positive enough weekends. But Ange Postecoglou and Wolves particularly disappointed.

Premier League winners

Aston Villa
Winners of the season, quite frankly.

Bukayo Saka
The only player on record to have at least seven shots and create at least seven chances in more than one Premier League game. That Saka managed that feat in consecutive appearances only underlines his growth into a leader and standard-setter at Arsenal.

Saka, for whatever reason, will always have his critics and the level of opponent against whom those statistics were achieved is worth taking into consideration. But Arsenal were on course to drop points against both Leicester and Southampton before he stepped in; it can be as difficult to show up in that sort of game, the sure-fire home wins which go awry, as it is to perform in the toughest fixtures against direct title contenders. Handily enough, Saka can do both.

He is talking the talk and walking the walk as one of the world’s finest forwards: a set-piece cheat code, open-play loophole and figurehead who has only improved with the kind of increase in responsibility and role that has consumed and broken many an Arsenal player before him.

Brighton
In his time as a manager at professional level, spanning 64 games with St Pauli and Brighton, Fabian Hurzeler has lost consecutive games only twice: to Eintracht Braunschweig and Hamburg in April 2023; and Karlsruher and Elversberg in April 2024.

The Seagulls might thus dread the penultimate month of their season but against all odds they recovered from another deflating half-time deficit to record their first Premier League win since August.

It was the fourth time in nine games they have scored three goals or more. Brighton have had eight different scorers and seven players registering at least one Premier League assist so far, both of which are the joint best in the division. It does become a little more likely when you spend £200m in one summer and set the bulk of it aside for exciting young wide forwards, but it is no less impressive.

MORE PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKEND COVERAGE FROM F365
👉 Arsenal and Man City overcome scares thanks to Saka and Kovacic while O’Neil sack nears – 3pm Blackout
👉 Premier League XI of the season so far somehow features two Spurs players!
👉 Six-pass Man Utd man in worst Premier League XI of the weekend

Christian Norgaard
Thomas Frank himself described Brentford as “a different team with Norgaard,” praising his captain as someone who “ties it all together and makes everyone else a bit better”.

The midfielder has mercifully not been pulled all the way into Brentford’s recent injury vortex but the Bees have still been without him for a dozen games since the start of last season, winning only three of those: against Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Colchester.

With Norgaard back from a short spell on the sidelines, this was Brentford back to their insatiable best. And while that opening goal took an age at one minute and 16 seconds, their record of scoring within a minute of kick-off was maintained with Norgaard’s rapid response to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s equaliser in the first half. Thomas Frank has mastered a neat little party trick there.

Vitezslav Jaros
It seems a bit lazy to recycle plot points which worked two decades ago down to the scoreline, the age of the debuting goalkeeper and even almost the exact minute of the substitution, but it just about worked for Liverpool to maintain their standing atop the table.

Jaros is far more likely than not to emulate Patrice Luzi, who made his first and last appearance for the Reds towards the end of a 1-0 win over Chelsea in January 2004, but if Alisson continues to play the curious role of injury-prone keeper then these opportunities will remain feasible.

The Czech has not been accidentally contracted to Liverpool for four years; he is an actual international the club have long deemed good enough to form part of their squad. The mild panic which provided the backdrop for his late introduction was as funny as the chorus of co-commentators around the world instinctively suggesting Crystal Palace should put a few crosses in or try a couple of pot-shots to test him.

Jaros did not have much to do – one save from Eberechi Eze, a solid punch and some fine sweeper-keeping filled his quarter of an hour – but he still exuded a calm much of the fanbase could not replicate. The gloves will probably be handed over to Caiomhin Kelleher for a few weeks but the Irishman should not expect his selection to be automatic.

Ederson
There was a time not long ago when most considered Ederson dispensable at Manchester City. Reported interest from Saudi combined with the season-ending heroics of Stefan Ortega crafted the widespread opinion that Pep Guardiola’s back-up was ready to usurp the throne.

That time might still come – Guardiola suggested Ederson would likely have left if a club actually met his asking price – but the Brazilian remains crucial to the cause and seemed to be alone in being able to answer the many questions posed by Adama Traore being really quite fast.

Three consecutive bookings is also a nice touch of the creeping dark arts. Guardiola taking a yellow card in support of his keeper was the least he could do.

Michail Antonio
“We were not totally happy with the way our strikers had done in the last few games and we were missing that presence and quality up front, so that’s why we opted for Antonio to play there,” explained Slaven Bilic in October 2016 when presumably asked what the thinking was in giving Antonio his first start as a Premier League centre-forward for a draw with promoted Middlesbrough.

Eight years, 68 goals, numerous coaches and an unfathomable amount of money spent on strikers later, Antonio inexplicably remains a crutch leaned on by managers under pressure. It shouldn’t work but it absolutely does.

And hands up here because the continued deployment of the 34-year-old was something this column has used as a stick with which to beat Julen Lopetegui. But while Niclas Fullkrug remains an expensive non-entity, Antonio is an effective option setting the bar high enough that no-one has been able to reach it as reliably for West Ham in almost a decade.

Aston Villa
Disappointment at only drawing with Manchester United and thus not beating two fellow former European champions in the space of six days tells quite the story about both teams at Villa Park.

A first clean sheet of the season should be cherished, while the international break will hopefully afford enough time to overcome the growing injury problems.

But one of the most impressive aspects of this Unai Emery transformation has been in how they have adjusted to the challenge of competing on multiple fronts. In the 16 Premier League games which have followed European fixtures during the Spaniard’s reign, Villa have won half and been beaten only three times. Martin O’Neill would have been smashing at least one of those plates by now.

Erik ten Hag
There are far worse Ole Gunnar Solskjaer managerial traits to adopt, like a general inability to discuss corners without mentioning the Nou Camp in 1999. But Erik ten Hag seems to have acquired his predecessor’s knack for producing a result when seemingly one game from the sack.

A 0-0 draw with Aston Villa is not quite as eye-catching and statement-making a revival as Solskjaer used to muster from nowhere – that four-day span in which he dispatched both Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho in December 2019 when his time seemed up was hilarious – but it was nevertheless necessary. Another humbling defeat and the international break void would have swallowed the Dutchman.

But Ten Hag is not stupid and he knows these are foundations built on quicksand. Even small steps forward in terms of keeping a clean sheet were overshadowed by the sort of incompetence in front of goal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s appointment as assistant was supposed to remedy.

That might weirdly suit Ten Hag. If Van Nistelrooy’s presence and acumen cannot engender an improvement from these forwards then the idea he could replace his compatriot at some point is thoroughly undermined. As it is, it doesn’t half look as though Manchester United have found themselves another manager capable of loosening the rope at the precise point all seems lost. A hierarchy persuaded to keep him for another season on the back of one performance in the FA Cup final might wish for their hands to be forced more convincingly either way.

Chris Wood
Try as he might, Erling Haaland simply cannot pull clear of Wood in the all-time Premier League scoring stakes, the pair locked as they are on 73 goals each.

The Nottingham Forest forward might have had a decent advantage at the start of the season but he is also the only player Haaland has overtaken for career Premier League goals who has subsequently pulled level with or past him. And you’ll never sing that.

Sean Dyche
Three games unbeaten after losing four on the bounce could not be more Sean Dyche if it came with a side of earthworms and gravel. He has finally moved past Jose Mourinho for Premier League draws as a manager, level with Alan Curbishley on 85.

Perhaps slightly more relevant is the delivery of a first clean sheet of the season, as well as the deployment of James Garner as a surprisingly effective right-back. Although that Mourinho thing is quite something from his ginger equivalent.

Raul Jimenez
Calling it merely ‘an assist’ seems slightly unfair but it was also his first in the Premier League since setting up Pablo Sarabia to score against Fulham in February 2023. Fitting, really, considering that was pure Wolves-at-the-Etihad transition ball orchestrated by a player suddenly operating at his best.

Paul Onuachu
A first league appearance for Southampton since May 2023 gave William Saliba and Gabriel more to deal with in 16 cameo minutes than most strikers have managed for the past few years. Onuachu might have lost his shirt number this summer but he did not misplace a pass, did complete one of those glorious stepovers and proved himself to be a legitimate option for Russell Martin going forward.

Wout Faes
Fair play because that debut Premier League season would have been chastening enough to curtail most English top-flight careers. But Faes knuckled down in the Championship and looks a player transformed with some actual defensive coaching guidance under Steve Cooper.

No Premier League player has made more clearances and only Nathan Collins has blocked more shots. The Belgian is on course to make that Boxing Day game against Liverpool the ultimate redemption.

Jordan Ayew
The second most-fouled Premier League player on record is now just 214 behind leader Wilfried Zaha. God, that Crystal Palace side must have been a ballache to face.

Premier League losers

Wolves
Gary O’Neil called it “the worst game I’ve been involved in as a coach” and certainly no counter-argument immediately comes to mind. Mario Lemina lamented his “worst performance as a Wolves player” and the only question to ask is which of his other 404 career appearances he might rank it above.

This is your manager and captain speaking. Wolves have gone beyond turbulence and are flying head-first into a truly disastrous season.

That game can only be viewed as a catastrophe on a coaching and playing level. O’Neil admitted as much, saying they were “wide open”, “loose” and made “crazy decisions with and without the ball”. Leaving Ethan Pinnock completely unmarked at one corner felt like an oversight but doing so multiple times implied it was a specific tactical choice.

Lemina conceded a penalty for the second goal and surrendered possession for the third, so is well-placed to suggest “the way we are defending right now is going to get us in relegation”; 21 goals conceded in the first seven games of a season equals the Premier League record set by Championship-bound Bolton in 2011/12 so the numbers certainly corroborate that.

And while Lemina’s defence of O’Neil was typically desperate and easily dismantled, the manager is “not the problem”. He has proven entirely incapable of overcoming it and ultimately would find it difficult to argue against losing his job, but the issues stem from the ownership.

This squad has been systematically weakened over the last two summers. Since O’Neil was appointed, Wolves have spent under £90m on nine permanent signings. Only two of them started against Brentford, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde eventually joining Sam Johnstone and Andre on the pitch. These new additions are talented but inexperienced and simply not ready for the environment into which they have been pulled.

In that time, Wolves have generated more than £150m through player sales, making their defence in particular significantly worse but impacting every other position too. Trying to make the club more sustainable is a respectable shift but leaning too far one way has shifted their course towards a relegation neither the players nor manager seem equipped to avoid.

Rayan Ait-Nouri
That was very possibly the least amount of noise which has greeted a Premier League goal ever.

Ange Postecoglou
James Maddison conceded that Tottenham “dealt with the momentum very poorly” and “lost complete control of the game”. But if his manager was to be believed that might have been a literal part of the plan.

“We don’t,” Postecoglou replied when asked about how Tottenham might keep things “controlled” in a game which, to be fair, screamed ‘3-2 to either side’ before kick-off. “Let’s keep it open. That way we entertain everyone and hopefully get the result we want.”

It is noble but nonsensical and tough to shake the sense that mentality might have rubbed off onto the team. Individual mistakes are part and parcel of the game, an unavoidable occupational hazard, but the coaching focus should be on implementing a system and structure which minimises their impact. Postecoglou magnified them and told his players to keep things captivating and engaging; they carried out his directive to a fault.

It was a less fundamentally damaging, questionable and misjudged remark than his comments at the end of last season and start of this about Arsenal and the title race, but it did underline how Postecoglou has as much work to do as his players to grow into this role.

If he wishes to view his job through the prism of entertainment, the only group he should feel that duty towards is Spurs supporters. And they would derive infinitely more pleasure out of three completely undeserved and shithoused away points than a needlessly back-and-forth game which is as liable to end in a draw or defeat as it is a win.

That message has to come from the top down but Postecoglou remains weirdly reticent to deliver it. And bizarrely keen to keep coming out with increasingly ridiculous statements.

Crystal Palace’s England Euro 2024 players
No club had more players picked for England duty at Euro 2024 but Crystal Palace do appear to have traded the form of those selected in exchange for that honour.

Dean Henderson has been good when not fuelled by Manchester United-based spite and Marc Guehi is approaching something resembling his best but Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton have been shadows of their former selves this season.

Wharton must not be playing at anything close to full fitness. He looks slow and awkward and while many considered him a good fit for that Liverpool midfield in the summer, Ryan Gravenberch exposed him numerous times. A Martin Zubimendi alternative he is not. Palace improved immeasurably once Will Hughes was introduced. Any drop-off in technical quality was countered by a considerable increase in aggression and energy.

While Wharton should be rotated, it is a slightly more complex case with Eze. His creative numbers are among the best in the division but his finishing has become actively detrimental. Only two Premier League players have had more shots so far but 43 have scored more goals and Eze’s last three games in particular have been masterclasses in wastefulness.

Eze losing his England place was fairly inevitable; Oliver Glasner might hope that Wharton spends a fortnight resting on the U21 bench.

Newcastle
“How close is he to the Premier League? Time will tell, and his performances will dictate that,” said Eddie Howe of Will Osula after the striker made his full Newcastle debut against League Two side AFC Wimbledon in the League Cup.

Time told painfully quickly. Those “really bright” 90 minutes were followed by a seat on the bench as an unused substitute, a role Osula has filled in six out of seven Premier League games this season. The exception was a seven-minute cameo when losing to Fulham.

If Howe does not deem Osula ready then that is a different conversation involving the assessment of a 21-year-old with as many Premier League appearances when he arrived, albeit for one of the worst teams in the division’s history.

But the legitimate fan frustration at that disastrous summer transfer window will only be fuelled when the only new players they brought in for a fee were almost specifically designed not to play this season. There is little point in pretending that spending £20m on Odysseas Vlachodimos was anything other than a sham, while if Osula is not worthy of ten minutes at the end of a tired, goalless draw when the only other recognised first-team centre-forwards are injured, it is difficult to see it as anything other than £15m wasted.

Bournemouth
As many shots on target as Leicester from more than three times the number of overall shots feels sub-optimal.

“We are not finishing, we are not punishing the opposition, when you are playing better and when you don’t take your chances, you can lose these kinds of games,” said Andoni Iraola. Yes. Can confirm. Antoine Semenyo is brilliant but particularly profligate in a team riddled with inaccuracy.

Ipswich
West Ham have never had more shots on target in a Premier League game. The 13 they mustered against Ipswich beat the 12 managed at home to Fulham in 2013/14 and the 11 visiting Cardiff conceded in 2018/19. Both teams eventually went down in those seasons and that was the first time Kieran McKenna’s side have really looked like suffering such a fate.

Chelsea
A decent result all things considered, but 27 bookings after seven games is hilarious. Chelsea have received at least six more yellow cards than any other team and even against opponents who had a player sent off and their manager cautioned, the Blues are the ones picking up a fine and two suspensions.

Arsenal had the worst disciplinary record in Mikel Arteta’s first half-season in 2019/20 so it might not actually be the worst example to follow.

Kyle Walker
That is literally your thing, mate. Your thing as a footballer anyway. And that was mildly embarrassing.

Winners & Losers Ange Postecoglou