Premier League Roundup – Gameweek 2
August 25, 2021
By Shivam PathakWith Romelu Lukaku, Fred and Dele Alli all under the magnifying glass this weekend, it’s like 2019 never ended, writes Shivam Pathak.
“At the age of 23, I always believed he had the possibility of becoming the best number nine in world football because he has absolutely everything.”
This was said about Romelu Lukaku by Roberto Martinez, back when he plied his trade in the Premier League – storming to the public eye with Everton. Martinez has now managed the Belgian twice – once at Goodison Park, and last at the Euros with his national side – perhaps you could say he just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to manage him again.
🗣”If I hold you like this and roll you like this, it’s finished”
Romelu Lukaku did warn defenders when he was at Everton 😰@Carra23 | @RomeluLukaku9 pic.twitter.com/YASeRY8Jp9
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 23, 2021
Indeed, Lukaku’s return to the Premier League had an air of inevitability about it. Inter Milan underwent a ‘restructuring’ that saw the side lose key players and their manager, with Lautaro Martinez now also linked away from the club.
With Chelsea, he provided everything they could have possibly been looking for in the opening minutes. A presence. Speed. Positioning. A product of the Belgian League, Lukaku had one dry spell at Stamford Bridge, after which he was sent to find success at two other British clubs before his fruitful two years in Italy.
As a spearhead for Thomas Tuchel’s set-up, Arsenal were the unfortunate first side who were condemned to suffer – and it could have been more. The post-match dissection continued long into the night and the start of the working week, as we witnessed the Gunners suffer some heavy punishment down the flanks during the first half. Reece James and Marcos Alonso could have enjoyed the Sunday papers while in possession – the Chelsea 3-4-3 getting the better of Arteta’s four-at-the-back.
Indeed, Arteta already finds himself second bottom of the table (not that that matters so much at this stage), but with injury problems beginning to accrue, something must change if this air of pessimism that is already growing is to be nipped in the bud. It’s City away next – a game that the bookmakers’ odds are not something to be looked at if you’re an Arsenal aficionado. We’ve seen stranger things, however.
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On the topic, Michail Antonio has continued his path to establishing himself as one of the finest classic number nines that the League has to offer. After securing his passport, the West Ham man is set to play for Jamaica for the first time during next month’s international break – another spanner in the self-isolation works, though that remains a discussion for later. What must be said now, is how astonishingly he has marched into this season and continued right where he left off. Running off the shoulder, pressing and finishing, Antonio is becoming impossible to ignore – and an FPL essential, too.
A little lower down the pitch, a lack of definitive defensive midfield presence is perhaps what Manchester United’s drop of points this weekend could be attributed to. Nemanja Matic, a beacon of experience, was paired up with Fred – the latter having a forgetful night in the red jersey: the Saints’ goal was finally credited as an own goal against his name. The lack of a proper holding presence in Solksjaer’s set-up has stifled him time and time again – there’s only so far that firepower and a defensive wall will take him.
Indeed, there seems to be a revolving door for midfielders filling the gap between the centre backs and Fernandes and Pogba marauding forward. It’s not a role Donny van de Beek would want to do by himself, and with the transfer market still open, United fans are unsurprisingly questioning whether or not the pocket that has been deep enough for Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho will stretch to an out-and-out number six.
Jurgen Klopp found himself frustrated with the manner Burnley played against them to kick off the action on Saturday. He compared the side’s physical game to “wrestling” – at one point Diogo Jota was remarkably thrown to the floor by Johann Berg Gudmundsson as it became apparent that the game was up for the visitors. Mike Dean, who loves the opportunity to reach into his pocket and brandish the yellow card like he were the main character of a New York action flick reaching for his weapon, somehow booked no players during the game.
Tottenham’s second consecutive victory without Harry Kane fueled further insatiable media appetite. “They play better without Kane” has been a trope echoed through the times when he sat on the sideline for extensive periods, especially during their 2018/19 Champions League campaign in which Kane came back for the final. His tangible impact on Tottenham from a football perspective is, at this point, somewhat irrelevant: perhaps the question is whether or not they will play better without him from a psychological perspective, once this transfer saga finally comes to an end.
Working 💪 pic.twitter.com/FaZvR8eoWN
— Harry Kane (@HKane) August 24, 2021
Son Heung-min was starved of opportunities for a lot of the game, but a Dele Alli penalty that he won was enough to bag the three points. We experienced a mini-Dele revival when Jose Mourinho took charge of the club, and has worked his way back into the starting XI once more. Is this another repeating trend, or is there a real window of opportunity for the 25-year-old to revert to his 2018 form? With Romelu Lukaku back in the limelight once again, there’s no reason why Alli, who enjoyed his football when Lukaku did in the Premier League, can’t put his name on the back page every week once more.
This article was written by Shivam Pathak. To check out their other work click here or you can leave them a comment below.
