Four is the magic number for City
You are only as strong as your weakest part and Manchester City have a problem in the heart of their defence at the moment.
At no point in an exhilarating evening of football at Carrow Road on Saturday did John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi look comfortable.
Stones was ruthlessly binned by Gareth Southgate after his blunder against Holland in the Nations League and there is a growing suspicion that, like Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling before him, he is not a good enough footballer for the England manager.
Crank that up a million times when you come to the demands Pep Guardiola puts on his men to be able to play the game. And Otamendi is even worse.
It is possible to carry one centre-back who is steady rather than clever on the ball – England do that to some extent with Harry Maguire. Rio Ferdinand used to bail out John Terry when it came to playing from the back.
But without Vincent Kompany or Aymeric Laporte to offer a less-able partner an easy way out, it is too easy for City to be caught in possession, as they were for Norwich’s crucial third goal.
Most times teams are too dizzy from chasing the ball when City have possession to put much pressure on the two centre-backs themselves.
But when faced by a team as determined as Norwich to lurk in numbers on the frailties on the back four, Stones and Otamendi are not solid enough as a pair.
And while people will point at the misfortune of losing Laporte to long-term injury, that would not have been a problem if Kompany had been replaced.
For two years, Guardiola has held four established, recognised centre-backs in his squad and won the league. In his first season, he only had three, and finished third.
It is looking increasingly like he has left himself short again.
Premier League talking points: Man City’s mistake, Chelsea warning, Arsenal problems (Image: GETTY)
Premier League talking points: Man City’s mistake, Chelsea warning, Arsenal problems (Image: GETTY)
Singing like Canaries
Carrow Road was bouncing on Saturday evening – a far cry from when I was last there for a Manchester City game and Delia Smith infamously took to the mike.
It may have seemed like a rarefied occasion, but it is the sixth time in just four-and-a-half years that the defending Premier League champions have lost to a newly promoted side.
By contrast, it has only happened twice in the last eight years in Spain.
That is just another reason why the Premier League is the best league in the world.
Chelsea will win nothing with kids
He is still being pilloried for it since, but when Alan Hansen said in August 1995, “You don’t win anything with kids…” he was right.
Hansen’s comments came after a young-looking Manchester United side lost to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. Phil and Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and David Beckham all played that day.
Luckily for Sir Alex Ferguson, he had a few established Premier League players who were off. Three in particular – a trio comprising Eric Cantona, Steve Bruce and Ryan Giggs.
They were the players who won the double that year for United, not the kids. At the same time, those same kids were nurtured into winning ways and went on to dominate football for a decade.
Fast forward to 2019. Chelsea’s young players are exciting and talented enough to whip a Wolves side having another off day. But send them to Old Trafford, or put them up against feistier opposition like Leicester and Sheffield United, and you suddenly see that Hansen knew what he was talking about.
Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori are the real deal and offer a bright future for Chelsea.
But the crime at Stamford Bridge is that players like this were not emerging when experienced stars such as Eden Hazard, John Terry and Frank Lampard were there.
That would have cemented Chelsea’s place at the top of English football so securely that even Pep Guardiola would have struggled.
Premier League talking points: Man City’s mistake, Chelsea warning, Arsenal problems (Image: GETTY)
Premier League talking points: Man City’s mistake, Chelsea warning, Arsenal problems (Image: GETTY)
Emery needs a Mini Me
For goodness sake, Unai Emery, stop going on about your “five captains” until you have found one proper one.
Granit Xhaka, wearing the armband against Watford, led by example – but sadly for the Gunners, it was a bad example.
Consistently, Arsenal fail to sign characters with the strength to lead the team out of their current doldrums. Those that show some sort of galvanising spirit – Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey… – they let go.
Laurent Koscielny ripped off his shirt to join Bordeaux. Mikel Arteta defected to Manchester City – where Patrick Vieira has stronger ties these days than he does at the Emirates.
Robin van Persie went to the other half of Manchester while Cesc Fabregas spent every summer he wore the armband trying to get home to Barcelona.
Before that the list was different. Pat Rice, David O’Leary, Kenny Sansom, Tony Adams – these were players who bled Arsenal.
Unai Emery has the energy and desire to succeed. He just needs somebody to carry his message onto the pitch.
Premier League talking points: Man City’s mistake, Chelsea warning, Arsenal problems (Image: GETTY)
Spurs Spursy at being Spursy
It seems Tottenham are Spursy at everything, including being Spursy.
They are supposed to be a club in crisis but all of a sudden they are third in the table and just two points behind the defending champions.
It is perhaps a lesson to clubs like Watford that a good manager with a sound philosophy will generally find a way to turn things around.
Mauricio Pochettino has a lot to prove this season – for himself as much as anybody. But his management style is a robust one and, although there have been very few dips in his career, he is more than capable of riding them.
Take that woeful defeat against Newcastle out of the equation, and two comfortable home wins and draws away at the Etihad and the Emirates is a pretty sound start to a title bid.
And Harry Kane has still not even really got going…