Premier League Week 6

Spurs do a job on Arsenal

Saturday's derby made me miss Harry Redknapp a bit. North London derbies when Redknapp was in charge were always entertaining affairs. He didn't really bother with gameplans at the Emirates, and just sent the players out to try and out-score Arsenal. It worked.. once. Most of the time it didn't. They were often on the ends of big defeats or involved in high scoring draws. Saturday's affair was dull by comparison.

Pochettino came out with a gameplan and sent his team out not to lose. Fair enough when you think about it. Spurs' record against last season's top four was awful. The summation of their results amounted to a single point at home to Chelsea. Seven defeats. Twenty seven goals conceded in eight games. This is clearly one area that Pochettino has identified a need to improve and did so by adopting a more defensive approach against Arsenal on Saturday.

Poch's first task is to shed Spurs's 'laughing stock' tag

Spurs were set up to sit back and hit Arsenal on the counter when they got the chance. They executed the gameplan pretty well and nearly emerged with what would have been a highly unlikely victory. They still look shaky defensively and had Hugo Lloris to thank for a string of excellent saves to keep them in the game. In the end they couldn't hang on. A A period of sustained Arsenal pressure resulted in a deserved equaliser, crafted brilliantly by Danny Welbeck and finished off neatly by Kieran Gibbs. Spurs won't be too disappointed with the draw. They've already matched their points haul against the top four sides last season and face Man City at home next week. Given they regularly ship 5/6 goals to City, I think we can expect another defensive display from Pochettino. Slow progress but progress all the same.

Arsenal did not have a great day. Aside from dropping two points and falling to six points behind Chelsea, they lost three more players to injury. Arteta and Ramsey both fell foul to muscular strains whilst Wilshire suffered a nasty looking ankle injury. Nothing you can do about impact injuries, luck of the draw really but Arsenal do seem to pick up an awful lot of muscular injuries throughout every season. So much so that it is hard to believe it is purely coincidental.  Ramsey missing another six weeks is a massive blow to them.



Gerrard gives critics the wrong answer

Up until Phil Jagielka's stunning late equalizer, the Merseyside derby looked set to be, as so many occasions have been at Anfield down the years, the Steven Gerrard show. He's come in for a lot of criticism in the media lately but Steven Gerrard answered his critics with a stunning free-kick to break Everton's resistance. Except he didn't. Not at all.

No one is doubting Gerrard's ability to shoot, or the quality of his set-piece deliveries. What he is lacking is any sort of defensive contribution to this Liverpool side. Try telling this to him though, as he ran to the crowd cupping his ears with the look of a man who seems to think he's shut everyone up. Obviously in his mind, being able to bend a ball in from thirty yards makes up for not showing up defensively this season. Age has restricted him from bombing forward to join attacks these days so he needs to make some sort of defensive effort to warrant inclusion in this side and he's just not doing that right now.

Gerrard scores but the criticism of his defensive game will not be quelled

Gerrard does not do enough work as a defensive midfielder. What he generally does do is take the ball off the defence and pick out a pass to try set up attacks. He does this very well.  He doesn't press and doesn't put enough tackles in and this hinders his team defensively as they are forced to carry him. Liverpool would surely have won the title last season were it not for the amount of goals they conceded. They've brought in Dejan Lovren among others to shore up the defence but the real problem lies slightly further forward. Like Arsenal, they lack a destroyer in midfield. Some one who'll press and press and break up opposition moves before they get into the Liverpool box. The zone between the Liverpool area and the halfway line should be his house. Nothing gets through there. Opposition rarely find resistance in this area and when they do it's usually from the far more energetic Jordan Henderson.

Nemanja Matic is perhaps the best holding midfielder in the division at the moment. He shields the Chelsea defence well and when he gets the ball lays it off to Fabregas or one of the more creative players, leaving it to them to do the attacking. Gerrard's passing game is fine, he has a longer range than Matic but the primary function of a holding midfielder is first and foremost to win the ball back. Matic has averaged 3.5 tackles per game in the league this season. United's holder, Daley Blind has averaged 2.7. Steven Gerrard just 1.8. Also less than Fernandinho at City, Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and his opposite number at Everton, Gareth Barry.

It's a similar case when it comes to interceptions. He averages 0.5 per game while his counterparts at the other elite teams are all up around the 1.8 to 2 mark. A notable difference and once Liverpool cannot ignore any longer if they are to shore up this defence. Suarez isn't around to bail them out anymore in games where they leak 2/3 goals.

Liverpool plundered Southampton for players during the summer and got a fair haul in Lallana, Lovren and Lambert. Perhaps they might have been better off taking a run at Wanyama or Schneiderlin. Both of these have been excellent for Southampton in the last couple of years in defensive midfield roles. Even playing one of them alongside Gerrard would relieve him of some defensive duties and allow him to be more of a playmaker. His range and accuracy of passing, combined with the quality of his set-pieces do make him a valuable asset to Liverpool, but he's just not doing enough in his current role and no amount of wonder-goals will change that.



Edin Dzeko deserves more credit or at least more playing time

It seems strange that Edin Dzeko is never considered worthy of placement in Europe's top bracket of number 9s. You know the bracket, Robert Lewandowski, Diego Costa, Falcao, van Persie. It's a little unfair, his goals per game ratio is among the very best and the fact that he's found himself used as a substitute more often than not

Dzeko scored another two goals at Hull and Saturday to ensure a City victory, the first an absolute screamer to put them 2-0 ahead and his second a good finish to put them back in front after Hull had pegged them back. Dzeko has a good goal rate at City, he's averaging 15 league goals a year, impressive considering he's never really been first choice at the club. Last year he spent much of the first half of the season sitting on the bench as Alvaro Negredo was preferred up top as a partner to Sergio Aguero.

Dzeko came to City's rescue yet again

This is the first season that Dzeko has a chance to establish himself as a first choice starter at the Etihad. Last season, mostly due to injuries to Aguero, Negredo and Jovetic, was the first time Dzeko started more than 16 league games in a season. He hit exceptionally form towards the end of the season and was perhaps the most pivotal figure in City's winning streak and march to the title.

It does seem strange that Dzeko is not held in as high regards as Europe's elite strikers. He's powerful, skillful, reasonably quick and a brilliant finisher. So much more than the target man it is easy for someone of his size to be cast as. Perhaps he has spent too long living in the shadow of Sergio Aguero. Aguero's lack of fitness towards the end of last season paved the way for Dzeko to shine. Now that the Argentinian is approaching full form and fitness again, you'd imagine he'd be favoured ahead of Dzeko in the eyes of the manager. Some strikers are just more equal than others.



Rooney not leading by example

The role of the captain is considered by many to be of diminishing importance in football. There are very few Roy Keane/Patrick Vieira figures in the Premier League today. This summer Wayne Rooney was handed the honour of both Manchester United and England captaincy. At club level at least, he seems to be shirking this.

He's now United's second longest serving player after Darren Fletcher, passing the ten year mark this weekend, and by far the most capped player in the England squad so he was the obvious choice in that regard for both titles but is he captain material? On the face of it, he very much isn't. Saturday's indiscretion wasn't the first and probably won't be the last. He was sent off for England in Montenegro a couple of years ago for a similar attack of mindless violence, kicking out at a player, seemingly just for the sake of it. Not the kind of antics you'd expect from a captain.

The walk of shame for Rooney on his 10th anniversary at United

In terms of top Premier League captains, Vincent Kompany is probably the best around. No-nonsense, fearless, leads by example, rarely lets his side down. It's rare to see attacking players as captains, generally it's defenders and central midfielders who make the best leaders. Putting in a last-ditch tackle or making a lung-busting run to get back and win the ball tends to inspire confidence in your team-mates rather than scoring goals does.

Rooney has a chequered past with United. Despite being the club's record goalscorer in waiting, his relationship with the club has twice deteriorated to the point where he's asked to leave. Surprisingly, this was his first red card in five years and only his third for the club. His performances throughout the years have ranged from sublime some days to largely inconsistent for months on end. It seems questionable that he was handed the armband this summer, not solely base on his acrimonious past, but also on the fact that on recent form, he's not a guaranteed starter.

Rooney is the best of a small pool of candidates when it comes to potential United captains. Jonny Evans and Darren Fletcher are the only two other viable options and neither are guaranteed a spot in the first eleven. Rooney needs to adapt to this role, stop going missing in matches, assert his authority in the dressing room as the senior player at the club and lead by example when it comes to discipline and performance. He's not off to a great start.

Premier League Power Rankings: 5 Games

20. Burnley

Goals are what will keep you in this division and right now Burnley are not getting enough. Not getting any in fact. They haven't scored since 14 minutes into their opener against Chelsea, a massive 436 barren minutes in front of goal.

This probably has a lot to do with the fact that their main sources of goals from last season Danny Ings and Sam Vokes are both sidelined with injury, Vokes a more long term absentee, but even with one or both of these fit, Burnley will need some contribution from other areas of the pitch in terms of goalscoring. Scott Arfield on the right wing was their 3rd leading scorer last year with 9 in all competitions and he's the only man off the mark so far this season. They've drawn their last three games 0-0  which shows they aren't an easy side to break down, but no one stays up without winning their fair share of games and that's what Burnley need to do.




19. West Brom

West Brom may now have kickstarted their season with a deserved win over Spurs at White Hart Lane at the weekend, before that they had looked rather poor. This game saw the debut of their marquee summer signing, Joleon Lescott, a free transfer from Manchester City. The inclusion of Lescott and the shift to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Morrison and Gardner playing very well in the centre of the park, served them very well and they looked a different side from the earlier games this season, much more competitive. Spurs are probably the toughest opposition they've faced so far, Alan Irvine will be disappointed not to have more points on the board from the fixtures they've had. They still could struggle.




18. Newcastle

The atmosphere at the club is absolutely poisonous right now. The situation is beyond salvation and it seems as if the only solution is a change of manager. Pardew has been on borrowed time for a while now and despite some impressive signings this summer, he really has to go. They haven't been particularly bad this season, the mauling by Southampton aside, but they aren't going to get any better while the fans are in open rebellion against the boss. Saturday's game with Hull should have been a massive show of support for Jonas Gutierez, just diagnosed with cancer, but turned into nothing more than a hate-fest for Pardew. Slightly classless from the fans. Defeat to Stoke this weekend and they will surely get their wish. The ends justify the means.




17. QPR

To be fair to Harry Redknapp, it did only take two games to realise that playing Richard Dunne and Rio Ferdinand together as part of a three man back-line was one of the worst ideas anyone has ever had. Players age. Richard Dunne is not half the player who was so heroic for Ireland in Moscow that night. Rio Ferdinand is not the defender he was at United five years ago. Big names yes, but both very much past it.

Niko bailed QPR out against Stoke

3-5-2 has been put on the shelf for now and QPR actually have a half-decent looking side. Jordan Mutch and Leroy Fer both impressed for relegated sides last season and will be hoping their efforts this season will not be met with similar rewards. Niko Kranjcar in his sixteenth spell under Harry Redknapp was their brightest spark against United and again at the weekend against Stoke. He's probably their best attacking threat to be honest, strikers Austin and Zamora have yet to prove themselves beyond the Championship.




16. Sunderland

Not really a whole lot of exciting things going on at Sunderland. They look like they'll be a tough side to beat. They've a strong core in midfield with Jack Rodwell, Lee Cattermole and Seb Larsson. Rodwell is recovering from his nightmare, ill-advised move to Man City and enjoying some first-team football again. Patrick van Aanholt likewise, getting a chance to shine in the Premier League for the first time. One problem they do have is going forward, it's not easy to see goals in what is a side pretty devoid of any creativity or flair. Adam Johnson and Conor Wickham both hit purple patches last season but Sunderland could do with them being a tad more consistent over the course of this year.




15. Stoke

Interestingly, Stoke's only win so far came at the Etihad Stadium, a ground only two teams avoided defeat at last year. Yeah that's all I've got. I'm really not that interested in Stoke to be honest.




14. Crystal Palace

They are a much different side to last season that's for sure. Under Pulis, Palace were solid, disciplined, tough to break down and a nightmare to play against. Already this season they've conceded 11 goals in 5 games, the same amount as they conceded in the final 12 games of last season during their impressive surge up the table. On the plus side, they put three past Newcastle and Everton and got something from both games so they are capable of getting goals when they need them.

McArthur and Jedinak are a solid combination in midfield. Frazier Campbell is a good addition up front and will chip in with a fair few goals/ At the moment they don't look like one of the three worst sides in the division but that could change. For a start they've a Championship standard manager in Neil Warnock who's only Premier League season so far ended in relegation whereas last season they had Pulis, who's never been relegated. Losing him so close to the start of the season may come back to haunt them.




13. Everton

The Europa League is a curse! Everton were so impressive against Wolfsburg on Thursday and followed it up with a home defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday, and both these were home games. It will get even worse when they go away from home in midweek. Next time out they go to Krasnodar in Russia before returning to play at Old Trafford on the Sunday.

Their ageing defence is leaking goals like there's no tomorrow, 13 conceded in the league already. Jagielka (32 with a history of injuries) and Distin (36) surely cannot be relied on for a full season, especially if Everton have designs on a Champions League place. The other teams with similar aims have all strengthened over the summer whilst Everton's line-up looks pretty similar to last season's, albeit now Lukaku is actually their player. It's similar to last year at West Ham when they spent their entire budget to make Andy Carroll a permanent signing. A good idea but it doesn't feel like they've improved at all.

Also, for Everton and Spurs, it will be worth keeping an eye on their post Europa League record for the group stages this season. Everton 0-0-1, Spurs 0-1-0.




12. Man United

What was meant to be the great resurgence of the fallen giants has turned into an even worse start than they enjoyed last season under Moyes. In their first five games last season they played Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea and emerged with 7 points. This season they've played the three newly promoted sides and two who were close to being relegated last season and come out with just 5. Relegation form.

A dejected Di Maria wondering what Cristiano is up to?

Is it even worth pointing out the obvious flaws in this side? They've no defence. Why Ferdinand and Vidic were not replaced is baffling. Whilst Rojo is stuck out at full back at least, Jonny Evans is currently Manchester United's first choice centre back. The sooner van Gaal deems Luke Shaw fit enough the better. A settled back four is key to any teams ambitions and United don't have that right now. Further forward, Herrera and Di Maria are too negligent defensively to justify playing both of them in a three man midfield. Leicester exposed this. Just imagine what Chelsea or City would do to this defensive structure.

Throwing money at problems doesn't fix them. Van Gaal knows this. It won't be quick but it needs to be. United can't afford to finish outside the top four spots this year. Figuratively and also literally with the amount of cash they've spent. In Di Maria they have an absolute gem and the most exciting player at the club since Ronaldo, who is never coming back by the way, and once Falcao hits form United should brush teams aside. In any normal season, this is 10 easy points dropped already. Given the games they have ahead of them they can't afford much more slips.

11. Spurs

They made an impressive start, a win in the derby at West Ham was followed by a thumping of QPR at the Lane. They followed this up by collapsing 0-3 at home to Liverpool and since then have yet to re-discover their swagger. 2-2 at Sunderland and a very poor 0-1 reverse to West Brom.

They have, essentially, the same squad as last season with a better manager. At the back they've an abundance of mediocre centre halves, Younes Kaboul who is arguably the best, has just been made club captain. There's very little about this Spurs side to get excited about. A million miles away from competing for the top four. The short trip to Arsenal on Saturday could not be coming at a worse time. Pochettino is already under a pressure a club not shy about sacking bosses.




10. Liverpool

They look like a shadow of the team that bulldozed their way through the Premier League in the spring with Raheem Sterling the only player showing anywhere near the form he demonstrated last season. The new signings, while they give the squad some much needed depth, don't actually make the best XI any stronger and maybe that's the pill Liverpool will have to swallow this year.  A drop-off in league performance being the price they pay for re-entry into the Champions League.

Didn't we used to have a lad who scored all the time?

They miss Suarez a lot more than I thought they would. In terms of goals and overall contribution. Sturridge too has been big loss the last couple of weeks, Balotelli doesn't fit into this team half as well as him. On top of that, Steven Gerrard is not playing well enough to warrant inclusion anymore. He's got an undroppable status of course but how badly does he have to play for Rodgers to pull the trigger on his captain. His resolve will surely be tested, and would be more so if they had some stronger alternatives than Lucas and Joe Allen.

They'll improve of course and more than likely be right in the mix for the Champions League spots come the end of the year, massive progress given where they were two years ago. But it's unlikely they'll get anywhere near as good a chance of ending the drought as they did last season.




9. Hull

In case you didn't know by now, I think the Europa League is stupid. Hull's biggest victory of the season will turn out to be their away goals defeat to Lokeren which saw them eliminated from Europe's most pointless competition.

Mohammed Diame has been a fantastic signing, playing well in his both games and scoring two excellent goals. New club record signing Abel Hernandez, who also scored on his debut, will be one to keep an eye on.  Impressive last year in Italy but very few players have successfully made the transition to England from Serie A. There are far more examples of expensive flops than success stories.

Hull's defence is leaking an average of two goals every game. Not ideal as this puts extra pressure on the attack to deliver in spades every game. From a stability point of view, especially for a team like Hull, winning games 1-0, 2-0 is far better than having to win 3-2. They've a solid triangle at the back of Michael Dawson, Curtis Davies and Alan McGregor so I suspect they'll tighten up as the season goes on.




8. Leicester

So many inches of so many articles dedicated to how United fell apart last Sunday. Not enough has been said about how brilliant Leicester were. Dean Vardy in particular was a menace. Aside from an overly-theatrical flop that a higher profile player would surely have been ridiculed for to win the first penalty, (why spoil a non-league boy done good story with the truth), he was excellent and caused United's shaky defence all kinds of problems. This was his first start of the season. He can expect plenty more with David Nugent the most likely casualty.

Leicester are loving life back in the PL

Leicester's star man so far this season has been Leonardo Ulloa with five goals in five games to kick off his maiden Premier League season. He'll be the focal point of Leicester's attack this season. A powerhouse of a striker, good in the air but also a decent technical footballer too. Their most high-profile player, Esteban Cambiasso, had a quiet enough debut against United. He scored, but looked a bit sluggish and unfit. It will perhaps take him time to adjust to the demands of English football.

Overall though, Leicester look like they'll be more than just a tough side to play against this year. They will be fun to watch too.




7. Swansea

Another surprise package. Swansea couldn't buy a win towards the end of last season but began this campaign with three on the bounce. They gave Chelsea a fright too and probably would have got something from the Southampton game had it not been for a couple of bizarre moments of madness from Wilfred Bony that saw him red carded. They responded by thumping Everton in midweek, hinting that the run of three wins at the start of the year was no fluke, Swansea are the real deal.

Gylfi Sigurdsson has recaptured the form he showed on his loan spell in Wales two years ago which prompted Spurs to buy him. He never really hit the same heights at White Hart Lane but since his return this summer, he's been excellent, four assists and a goal making him popular choice in fantasy teams everywhere. The midfield in general looks a lot stronger than last season and Swansea should be targeting mid-table security and a push into the top half rather than looking over their shoulders like lasts year.




6. West Ham

Sam Allardyce came under intense pressure from the fans (and, rumour has it, the board) for his ugly style of play last season. Injury to Andy Carroll has forced his hand somewhat. West Ham have veered away from the long-ball game and are now much more enjoyable to watch. The addition of Alex Song to the midfield is a brilliant capture and should aid their progress from 'hoof-it-long' to 'tika-taka'. He's a fine passer of the ball.

Amalfitano completed the rout against Liverpool

Even Stewart Downing is looking decent. The last couple of games he's played through the middle as the front point of a diamond. Here he's getting more chances for himself and proving quite the playmaker, fashioning out chances for Sakho, Amalfitano, Zarate or Valencia. West Ham now spoilt for choice when it comes to attacking options. Quite a contrast to last year when it was Carroll, Nolan or Carlton Cole.

Much, much improved, the fans are happy and the club seems like a healthier place. High hopes for them this year.




5. Aston Villa

They young players have a years more experience. Fabian Delph is a very under-rated player and worthy of a place in the (current) England squad at least. Tom Cleverley has a chance to reinvent himself at a new club. Andreas Weimann has impressed. So too has Ashley Westwood when he's played.  Add to that the return of some more senior players, Hutton and N'Zogbia, and Villa are looking in fairly decent shape for the rest of the season. Agbonlahor has been good too.

One problem remains. Despite taking 10 points from the first 15 on offer, Villa have only scored four goals in the opening month, two each for Agbonlahor and Weimann. None of the central midfielders can really be counted on for goals so it will fall to the likes of Kieran Richardson, N'Zogbia, Joe Cole, any mildly creative player that finds themselves in the line-up on that given day, the squad is bigger now than it's been in years. Still have Benteke to return too. Defensively sound. Need more goals.




4. Southampton

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Having lost their influential manager and the core of their team during the summer, Southampton were supposed to struggle massively and plummet down the table. Actually they're doing even better than last year's impressive season.

Lovren, Shaw, Lallana and Lambert all left. Graziano Pelle from Feyenoord was the only big signing they made and yet Southampton don't seem to have suffered at all. Morgan Schneiderlin, despite being a very unhappy bunny, has been their star player so far alongside Jack Cork and Victor Wanyama in midfield. James Ward-Prowse is one young player who perhaps didn't get enough credit whilst Lallana and Rodriguez were stealing the headlines last year, but he too has been excellent this year. New boy Dusan Tadic has been very good on the left side of the attack. From an Irish point of view, it's disappointing that Shane Long will struggle to hold down a place in this team.

Ronald Koeman had a horrible job on his hands this summer but not once did we hear him complain about players leaving, players wanting to leave, or anything really. He knuckled down and got on with his job with the resources he had. And now Southampton are reaping the benefits. A consummate professional and looking like a very good manager too.




3. Arsenal

Arsenal are the only side other than the league leaders to still be unbeaten after five league games. Impressive considering they've had a tricky enough start. They showed great spirit to fight back against Everton from 0-2 down but really should have hung on to claim an important win against City. Their humbling in Dortmund three days later was another stark reminder that this team is still not at the level they aspire to. A 'gillion' miles from it, according to Paul Merson.

I foresee quite a big problem arising for Arsenal in the coming months, it's quite obvious really, in that they have just two recognised centre halves in the first team squad. If injury befalls either Per Mertesacker or Laurent Koscielny, as it tends to do to Arsenal players, what are they going to do for cover? Play one of their thirty-seven attacking midfielders in there probably. Debuchy's injury means Chambers will be required at right back, leaving cover for the centre even thinner.

Ozil and Welbeck took Villa apart, but more consistency is needed

Danny Welbeck is a decent striker but in squandering all those chances against Dortmund, showed exactly why van Gaal thought he wasn't good enough for United. If a player isn't deemed good enough for United, should Arsenal fans be happy with him leading their line? I don't think so. He'll get 10+ league goals this season, purely on the amount of chances that will be put on a plate for him, but he's not the man that's going to fire Arsenal to glory. Mesut Ozil has his critics but is a fantastic player, even if he does tend to go missing quite often. Arsenal need him to show up a lot more often than he did lasts season.

They've a tough spell of fixtures coming up. Two London derbies with Spurs and Chelsea sandwiched by a vital Champions League tie with Galatasaray. I think we'll find out a lot more about this Arsenal side's mettle in the coming weeks.




2. Man City

In contrast to their neighbours, City seem to have bought exactly what they needed this summer. Eliaquim Mangala is an absolute monster and will give strikers around the league nightmares this season. He's the partner Vincent Kompany has been crying out for for years now and will tighten up a City defence that looked very breachable at times last year.

Mangala had a very impressive debut

City haven't had the start they would have wanted and losing to Stoke will seem like three priceless points lost. Late equalizers against Arsenal and Chelsea leaves them lucky to be only five points back instead of nine. The main difference between this season and last is Yaya Toure, who's yet to re-capture the magnificent form he showed last campaign. Blame it on Cake-Gate if you want, the man did lose his brother during the summer and that would take a toll on any professional in any walk of life in the months that followed.

City probably shaded it against Chelsea on Sunday in the first super-heavyweight clash of the season. They did an excellent job of nullifying the threat of both Costa and Fabregas who've undone just about everyone else so far this year. City had the better players, but Chelsea the better manager who got his tactics right again. Perfectly entitled to sit back, defend and try to hit City on the break. It's probably the only way to win at the Etihad. City aren't far off Chelsea in terms of standard, but five points already is a significant gap and over the course of the season I can see them slipping up more often than Chelsea.




1. Chelsea

What a strange moment it was for Frank Lampard. The permanent fixture in the Chelsea revolution in the 2000s, the man who won everything with them, the man who ended their 100% record in 2014/15. One of the very few occasions I've seen where it was totally acceptable for the player not to celebrate.

But Chelsea are doing just fine without him. Unbeaten so far this season and five points clear of any real title rival, Mourinho seems to be working his magic again and we may well see 04/05 and 05/06 levels of dominance again this season for the Blues. Thanks in no small part to their shrewd summer business. Cesc Fabregas was a steal at £30m. Likewise Costa at roughly the same price. Together they will destroy the tight defences Chelsea struggled to break down last year. And if they are nullified, that leaves Eden Hazard, one of the best players in the league who's been largely forgotten in the hype around the Spaniards, free to do his thing.

The best start by any new PL striker ever. Costa.

Defensively they are even better than last year. Terry and Cahill look to have picked up exactly where they left off last year as the tightest centre half pairing in the country. This time they've a full season of Nemanja Matic to enjoy. And we haven't even seen Felipe Luis yet. Oh and one of the best keepers in the world Thibaut Courtois is now in goal having ousted Petr Cech.

Weaknesses? Costa is permanently a red-card waiting to happen. That lad does not like being touched. Kick lumps out of Fabregas? Hope Hazard has an off day? Pray? At the moment it doesn't look like there's any stopping this Chelsea side. The gauntlet has been thrown down and it's up to the chasing pack to answer.

Mourinho's Simple Blueprint Is Working Again

Jose Mourinho talked with a hint of sarcasm about his transfer policy during his post match interview on Sunday. He broke it down into three stages:

1. Identifying the type of player they need.
2. Identifying an individual.
3. Getting them.

This incredibly simple philosophy of figuring out what your team needs then going out and getting it is basically what he's been doing his whole career and it is what he's doing again now in his second spell at Chelsea.

Even at this very early stage of the season, the infant Premier League table makes delightful reading for Chelsea fans, and spreads worry and fear among supporters of the other teams with designs on the crown. Chelsea have taken maximum points so far and find themselves 5 clear of champions City, 6 clear of last season's other two top four sides Liverpool and Arsenal and 7 clear of rank very much outsiders Man United.

The trio of Liverpool, Arsenal and City have all had to face one of each other in the opening four games and so naturally they can't have all taken maximum points. Chelsea have had a fairly handy start, the trip to Everton aside, but this comes to an abrupt end when they travel to Man City on Sunday. Is this a chance for City to make up ground and the chasing pack to start reeling Chelsea in? Probably not if recent history is anything to go by. Chelsea won both league games against City last year. They doubled Liverpool too and took 4 points from a possible 6 against Arsenal.

Their record against the top teams was incredible and often is. It was against the league's minnows that they came unstuck so many times last season. Their failure to pick a lock in stubborn resilient defences was what cost them the title and is where they are aiming to improve upon this year.

Losing at Palace was the blow that killed Chelsea hopes last year

And for this there is no better manager than Jose Mourinho. The best manager in the world has a particular talent for pinpointing exactly what a team needs in order to make them complete. It's difficult to achieve success right away, and although he has done this at most places, Mourinho's genius is emphasized by the remarkable record he has in 'second seasons' of his tenure at clubs throughout his career.

He revolutionized Porto in general, taking over towards the end of the 01/02 season, steadying the ship before making his mark in his first full season in charge. He made the most of quite a deep pool of Portuguese talent at the time. Among his signings were Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Helder Postiga, Maniche and Paulo Ferreira, players that would form the core of this team and the Portuguese national team for years to come. Plenty would follow him to Chelsea a couple of years later. He won the Portuguese title in every full season he spent there, a UEFA Cup in 2003 and the biggest prize of all one year later, getting the better of the great Sir Alex Ferguson in their first ever meeting that year.

Second season Porto: Champions League win to accompany the Portuguese League title with a 100% home record.

Having won all he could at Porto, Mourinho moved to Chelsea where he was given significant financial muscle to build a super squad at Chelsea. He signed Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole to add significant muscle to what was already a very strong Chelsea backbone. He constructed a perfectly balanced team from back to front and they swept to league titles in both 2004 and 2005. This team was based on a strong defence and quick counter attack football, exploiting the pace of Duff and Robben on the flanks.

Didier Drogba up front was the spearhead of the attack, Frank Lampard chipped in with an average of 20 goals a season from an attacking midfield role. Behind him, Michael Essien used his power and stamina to play the box-to-box role to perfection. Claude Makelele's role earned him the honour of having the position named after him. Mourinho's Chelsea were like nothing the country had ever seen before and left everyone standing for two whole seasons.

Second season Chelsea: Chelsea won a second consecutive Premier League title. By a mile.

Mourinho's next project took him to Italy and the task of taking dominant champions Inter Milan to the next level in Europe. Using the blueprint he had created at Chelsea, Mourinho's first signings were Mancini, Ricardo Quaresma and Sulley Muntari. Two quick wingers and a midfield powerhouse. Duff, Robben and Essien again. Inter won Serie A again in 08/09 but fell short in the Champions League, failing to score over two legs against United. Inter was solid defensively but lacked an attacking edge. Mourinho learned his lesson and plotted for next season.

Came, saw and conquered. Jose in Milan.

His solution was to sign striker Gabriel Milito and Wesley Sneijder. Samuel Eto'o also arrived from Barcelona in a deal which saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic (the most un-Mourinho type player imaginable) go the other way. Sneijder would be the key to unlocking defences in Europe in the number ten role. Eto'o brought Champions League winning experience and was a striker who was more than willing to put in a defensive shift. Milito was as potent a finisher as anyone. Nine months later, Milito was scoring twice in the Champions League final as Mourinho achieved his goal in his second season. Remarkable.

Second season Inter: The Treble. Serie A, Italian Cup and Champions League. First ever by an Italian side.

As he tends to do after winning a Champions League, Mourinho moved on to a new challenge. Real Madrid. Despite having recently broken the world record to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, Madrid were in a bit of a slump. The last two years had seen Barcelona make a meteoric rise led by Lionel Messi, dominating La Liga and winning a couple of Champions League titles for good measure. With Xavi and Iniesta pulling the strings in midfield, 2008-12 Barcelona had become recognised as one of the greatest of all time.

To put the gulf into perspective, Mourinho lost his first Classico 5-0 at Camp Nou. Barcelona were simply irresistible and played their rivals off the park. By the end of the season he was getting the better of them in the Copa Del Rey final.

Mourinho brought in Sami Khedira, Angel Di Maria and Mesut Ozil. Powerhouse, winger, playmaker. He also signed old favourite Ricardo Carvalho for a third time. 2010/11 was an improvement but they fell short in the league and Champions League to Barcelona. The following year however they were not to be denied a title. He didn't actually make many major signings ahead of the second season, it was more a case of Ronaldo (46 goals) and his signings Ozil and Di Maria (32 assists between them) hitting excellent form. Madrid won 32 out of 38 games, and broke the 100 goal and point barriers en route to a first La Liga title in four seasons.

Jose wrested the Spanish crown from Pep in Year 2

Ultimately Mourinho fell short of his goal of bringing the Champions League trophy 'home' to Madrid. Nevertheless, dislodging Pep Guardiola, Lionel Messi and that great Barcelona side from the top of the table was a fine achievement. His spell at Madrid was no failure.

Second season Madrid: Broke the dominance of Guardiola's Barcelona, securing a record number of La Liga goals and points as Madrid wrested the title from one of the greatest sides of all time.

His time at Madrid ended in acrimony and in the summer of 2013. Having failed to win a trophy in a season where he fell out with many senior players at the club, the two parties agreed a mutual separation at the end of the season. Not fancying the dole queue, a couple of weeks later 'The Special One' found himself back in charge of Chelsea.

 In their first season, as if to dampen expectations he seemed to constantly complain about the squad he had inherited, laying the blame for this barren campaign firmly at the feet of Rafael Benitez and others who had gone before him. Midway through the season he had identified the problems and set about coming up with solutions. He sold Juan Mata, like Ibrahimovic before, simply not a Mourinho player, for £37m and reinvested it in Nemanja Matic, a midfielder enforcer from Benfica who would take the place of the much maligned John Obi Mikel.

Matic: The rock upon which Mourinho began to build

Matic was exceptional in the second half of the season and it is no coincidence that Chelsea's defensive record with him in the side was considerably better than it had been without him in the first half of the season. Still, some unexpected slip ups towards the end of the season saw them fall behind Man City and Liverpool, finishing in 3rd place.

As mentioned before, Chelsea's downfall last season was their record against the lesser sides in the divisions. Their two biggest wins came away to City and Liverpool where they played deep and on the counter attack where they had plenty of space in the final third to attack in. When things were a bit more congested, they really struggled to create openings. Mourinho's men looked out of ideas when faced with a blanket defence. Chelsea created the same number of chances last season as Fulham, who finished 19th.

That and their strikers. Mourinho had Torres, Ba and Eto'o to choose from. An expensive flop who has been devoid of any sort of confidence for about four years, a mid-table quality striker with no knees and an old sluggish legend. Between them they managed just 19 Premier League goals. Liverpool's strikers pitched in 52 and City's contributed 45. Easy to see where Chelsea fell short.

To address this, Chelsea did the bulk of their business in the first weeks of the transfer window paying the guts of £30m each for Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. Fabregas, played out of position for virtually his whole time at Barcelona, is still the playmaking genius that left Arsenal three years ago, capable of picking holes in any defence through his vision and passing. What he is not is a false nine or a number ten which is where he played for a decent chunk of his spell at Camp Nou. Diego Costa is the powerhouse, spearheading, goal machine that Chelsea's title challenge lacked last season. Seven goals in his first four league games is a frighteningly good start, the best ever by a Premier League newcomer.

The way they've set up in most games so far this season is pretty much what you would expect. Hazard on the left with Willian/Schurrle on the other side and Oscar through the middle as the advanced playmaker, with Fabregas in the deeper role. Matic holds and rarely looks to support attacks. Costa leads the line, exploiting the flanks as he loves to do.

For the big games, starting this weekend at  City, I think Mourinho will adopt a more defensive approach, as he usually does, and play an extra centre midfielder in Ramires. Cesc's role won't change much. The only difference in this set up is the lack of a luxury player, Oscar, in attack.

Having sorted out the defence towards the end of last term, Jose has now fixed his attack and brought in the players he wants. Last year if Hazard didn't show up, Chelsea would struggle to score. Now they've another excellent option in Costa and Fabregas will create bagfuls of chances for the other attacking players. They've responded by averaging nearly four goals a game over the first month of the Premier League season. They've a 100% record and are already more than a win clear of all of their genuine challengers for the title. It is a throwback to 05/06 where they won all their first nine league games, being out of sight by October.

Chelsea are on the march again. A genuine Mourinho Chelsea side has only been stopped once in the Premier League before. This was in 2006/07 by the combined brilliance of the old master Sir Alex Ferguson and his new team led by an emerging Cristiano Ronaldo at Man United. It will take the emergence of a force of equal magnitude to this legendary axis in order to prevent Chelsea from storming to the Premier League title this season.

What Gives Ireland Fans Such Unrealistic Expectations?

"Kill me if you dare. Hold my head up everywhere"

The Irish players may not be too familiar with the enormous level of expectation at the big English clubs. Of the current squad only John O'Shea,  Robbie Keane (briefly) and to a lesser extent Darron Gibson have experienced life at one of England's grandeur teams. The fans are a different story. The geographical proximity of England, combined with the lower standard of the Irish Premier League leads to the vast majority of fans in this country choosing to support the bigger Premier League teams, rather than their local, much lesser-funded, less-glamorous and far less-successful local Irish League club.

Week in and week out the majority of Irish football fans are fortunate that they get to watch their supported team winning. The team you support, you normally get to choose yourself or you simply follow whoever your Dad or the rest of your family supports. This is usually governed by who is successful at the time. Leeds had a decent following here back in the 1970s, today the most supported clubs in Ireland are Manchester United (the team of the 1990s and 2000s), Liverpool (1980s) and Arsenal (generally pretty solid in every decade). I'll bet anything that in 20-30 years Chelsea and Manchester City will have amassed a considerably greater following than they had at the start of the century as children, developing an interest in football, flock to them.

In comparison to the English Premier League, very few Irish fans bother to keep up to date with it's Irish counterpart. I wouldn't say much could name the current champions (St. Pats), league leaders (Dundalk), player of the season (Killian Brennan, I had to look it up) or are even aware that the league is run during the summer months as opposed to the more traditional winter season. Were Irish fans heavily invested in their local league and oblivious to the goings on across the Irish Sea, Ireland international games would be a step-up in terms of quality, rather than a come-down for most of us used to cheering on United and Liverpool every week.

The local game is unappealing when you have the major leagues next door

Ireland is a country with a population of 4.6 million people. New World Champions Germany have over 80 million residents. In the vast majority of our country, athletes are drawn more to Gaelic football and hurling than they are to 'soccer'. Most schools don't even bother to play the sport, focusing instead on the national past-times. How on earth some observers expect us to be able to field a team even in the same league as some of Europe's top nations is beyond me. Looking at our population and the resources available to the sport as a whole here, Ireland aren't under-achieving at all. This, battling for a win away to Georgia, is simply our level. We've had golden periods in the past, 2002 was our most recent high point but on average, battling to qualify for the tournaments is where we belong. Being in them is a huge achievement and reason to celebrate when it happens.

The infamous RTE analysis panel are amongst the biggest, or certainly most public, culprits of this over-expectancy. RTE covers two football competitions regularly. Ireland's World Cup or Euro qualifiers and the Champions League. The gulf in class between these two levels cannot be put emphasized enough. Imagine watching Chelsea vs Man City one day and the next being forced to sit through Walsall vs Leyton Orient. Obviously, having enjoyed the quality on display in the first game, you would be naturally disappointed by the drop in standard for the second game. That's what it's like. Do Dunphy and co. expect to see Barcelona-esque passing football from Glenn Whelan and Stephen Quinn on international week? Do they expect Ireland to run riot against Georgia and rack up a rugby score? Robbie Keane to beat six players with Messi-like skills before slotting home. Unrealistic expectations created by what they are used to seeing.

Having said that they got a glimpse of it with that second goal from McGeady. Quality worthy of the Champions League.

McGeady hit a wondergoal to give Ireland a huge win

The quality of the football we've played over the past few years has drawn criticism from a lot of quarters and understandably so. In an era of tiki-taka and fluid dynamic, beautiful football, Ireland's style of play lately has been anything but. But why should we expect it to be? We've never produced skillful players. Liam Brady is one of the candidates for most talented player this island has ever produced and he was schooled in England from the age of 16. In recent times, Damien Duff is probably about as good as it gets. You can argue Wes Hoolohan, a product of the Irish league and a player who's never really cut it outside the Championship but our two best footballers right now are both Scottish, James McCarthy and Aiden McGeady. We have traditionally relied on 'The Granny Rule', never more so than 1990 when our team that reached the last 8 of the World Cup was dominated by strongly English accented 'plastic Paddys' like Aldridge and Cascarino.

We will  never produce a Cristiano Ronaldo. Probably not even a Nani and certainly not anytime soon. The game in Ireland is not appropriately funded or supported enough to do so. Competing with the GAA and rugby for the best athletes would stifle the growth of any sport. It is amazing when you think about it's popularity and how much media coverage the sport gets here that the domestic game isn't funded better.

Part of the reason Ireland were so successful around 1990 was due to the fact that England were also on the crest of a wave then. The competition for a place in the England squad was so fierce that many hopefuls suddenly found themselves discovering Irish ancestry and, in-turn, making a surprise appearance in the knockout stages of a World Cup. If that is any sort of indicator, we can't expect to pick-up any decent hand-offs any time soon. Jack Colback made the most recent England squad. Fabian Delph is a starter now apparently. English football is in the doldrums and there it will remain for the next decade at least. Ireland will have to fend for themselves.

We won't see another Cascarino for a while

On the international stage, Ireland are a dwarf among men, not the superpower some fans expect us to be. What makes it a given that we are going to beat Georgia? They aren't ranked too far below us in the world standings and are probably our most evenly matched opponent in the group. This should have been, and was a close game. And we did very well to win. Scotland have a richer footballing tradition than us and a better squad right now. Poland is a country with a population of 40 million people and a team that boasts one of the best strikers in the world. They will expect to beat us, certainly over there, and rightly so. It's time to embrace our status as underdogs, rather than expect the team to qualify for every major tournament by right, simply because in our day-to-day football supporting, we are all used to success.

We can certainly qualify for Euro 2016, the extra spots available in the tournament make it more likely as we can even finish 3rd and still go through. But fans should not assume that because they see their club sides at the business end of the table every week, that the same should be expected of the national side.

Have United Sold Their Soul?

"I won't jump the tracks.. I'll run right back to her"

Manchester United can take a peculiar sense of pride in knowing that every team that beat them in the league between 2004 and 2013 had to spend and exorberant amount of money to do so. Chelsea were bankrolled to three titles in 2004, 2005 and 2010 by Abramovich's Russian millions. Likewise City's triumph in 2012 would not have happened without the funds being pumped into the club by their Abu Dhabi owners. United fans could bank on the fact that they'd either win the league or be able to say their rivals went out and 'bought' the title. This is most definitely not the case anymore. United have embraced the culture of the enemy in order to compete.

If any other club replaced a player like Welbeck with a player like Falcao in the same night, the only emotion experienced would be one of sheer joy and excitement. For United fans, and ex-players and staff alike, there's a twinge of sadness involved too. September 1st 2014 will be remembered as the day United finally abandoned their traditional values and embraced the 'dark-side' of modern day football.

Di Maria and Falcao represent the new face of United

I say dark-side and that might be a little misleading as I don't have a problem with it and after all there's nothing strictly wrong with going out and buying the best available players but it's an aspect that some football purists hate. Old-fashioned football fans would rather see a team full of home-grown talent beat their rivals side full of expensively recruited mercenaries from every corner of the globe. Think of the Barcelona team built almost entirely of academy players like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Puyol, Pique going up against Real Madrid's Galacticos. Barca are definitely the good guys here, regardless of what picture Mourinho tried to paint of them during their wars.

Danny Welbeck had been at Manchester United since he was eight years old. The picture of him aged thirteen training with Ryan Giggs has done the rounds a lot during his career. Everybody knows he wasn't the best striker but he was adored by the Old Trafford faithful because of his work rate and simply, because he was one of their own. An academy product. A local lad. Dat guy.

Even then, Welbeck though Giggs was old

Welbeck was also the last Mancunian in the United first-team squad. A first-team squad now laced with expensive foreigners that now contains only six Englishmen. Their starting line-up in the 2008 Champions League final contained six Englishmen.

Falcao in for Welbeck in many ways symbolises, at last, the dawning of the new Manchester United. For the last twenty years the culture of the club had been defined by Sir Alex Ferguson. Yes there were some big-name arrivals, Juan Veron, Robin van Persie.. but the philosophy of the club was always to bring players through and the focus on youth. The best example of this is obviously the famous 'Class of 92', the batch of young players that contained the Neville brothers, Nicky Butt and the iconic figures of Beckham, Giggs and Scholes.

Even the team Fergie left behind contained mostly talented he had nurtured. Cleverley, Evans, Welbeck were all academy products whilst Rooney, Anderson, Smalling, Rafael, Fabio and Phil Jones had all been at United since their teenage years. Without Fergie there, a lot of them have been found out. How would the likes of Beckham and Scholes fared had Fergie jacked it in in 1997? We'll never know.

It's unlikely we will see something like this for a while in England

Transfer deadline day saw the departure of several club products. Welbeck sold to Arsenal. Tom Cleverley, significantly less revered by fans than Welbeck, was loaned to Aston Villa and will not likely play for the club again. Tom Lawrence who started for United against Hull under Ryan Giggs in May has moved to Leicester permanently.

Rather than trust in the club's legendary youth structure which is not delivering the goods, Woodward and van Gaal have gone out and broken the British transfer record to sign Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid and recruited Radamel Falcao, one of the best strikers in the world. This is in addition to Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind who've all arrived for a combined fee of about £90m. This represents a huge break from the norm at United. They are almost mirroring what Chelsea did in 2003 and City in 2009. Having recognised their current squad is nowhere near the required standard, they've gone out and bought a new one. And it doesn't look like the spending is over. Already Kevin Strootman and Arturo Vidal are being lined-up for January moves. If the team you have isn't good enough, simply buy a new one.

'More than a club' is the motto of FC Barcelona, a giant of world football. I think this more applicable to Manchester United. They are a brand. A business. A commercial juggernaut turning out a massive profit through sponsorship deals and merchandise sales just about everywhere in the world. This club can't afford a rebuilding phase in modern day football and these purchases are purely short-to-medium term, aimed at getting the club back in the Champions League and back at the summit of the Premier League ASAP. It is where they need to be.

United are on the way back up but they are not doing it 'the United way' simply because they don't have the time an England just isn't producing the players right now. They have accepted the only way they are going to compete with Chelsea and Man City on the pitch is to compete with them off it for all the best signings and that's exactly what they are going to do.

Thoughts On The Transfer Window

"A day late, a buck short"

1. Chelsea Won It

Chelsea had a net spend of just £8m this summer and yet somehow their squad looks considerably stronger than last season. How on earth PSG justified paying £50m for David Luiz is beyond me. Everton's £28m was a great deal for all parties. Chelsea got a sizeable fee for a player they didn't want and Everton paid a fair price for a player they did.

With regards to transfers in, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas together for the same price that United got Shaw and Herrera seems like an exceptional piece of business. Costa is one of the best strikers in the world and only reaching his prime now. Being played out of position at Barcelona seems to have made everyone forget just how good a playmaker Cesc Fabregas is. He's going to be a huge asset to Chelsea. Felipe Luis is a great replacement for the outgoing Ashley Cole. The only area where they look slightly short is in the centre of defence, where they will be slightly stretched in the event of any injury to Terry or Cahill. Everywhere else they have at least two players for every position, a luxury every manager would want.

Didier Drogba's return to the club gives them the option of using him as an impact sub. He can still do a job for them in the big games, was always a good man for them. Loic Remy, despite failing a medical at Liverpool, was brought in for a bargain £8m considering his ability. He'll provide some extra cover as Demba Ba did last year, another striker prone to failing the odd medical in his time.

Chelsea's financial shrewdness in this window goes some way towards making up for the umptienth transfer windows they would pay £100m at the drop of a hat and recoup nothing. The fact they've let £50m Fernando Torres go on a free after three and a half years is a throwback to the old, pre-FFP days.



2. Newcastle Show Signs of Life

I think Newcastle have quietly done very well out of this window. In the previous three, with Joe Kinnear overseeing recruitment, they failed to sign a single player on a permanent deal. Unsurprisingly, Kinnear got the axe just hours after the January window ended without a single arrival.

This summer they have brought in eight permanent signings and one on loan. Jack Colback, now an England squad member was a fantastic capture on a free from rivals Sunderland. The likes of Emmanuel Riviere and Remy Cabella both look like quality players while Ayoze Perez looks like a real star in the making. All of these are a testament to Newcastle's European scouting network which has now unearthed quite a bit of talent, particularly in France. Other clubs take note.

The new signings give the squad a fresher look and the attack a much sharper edge than last season. They are more than capable of finishing 8th this season however even a host of new signings and a much improved team is likely to endear Ashely or Pardew to the Toon anytime soon.



3. Wenger Negligent Again

Arsenal now head into the season with two first-team centre halves. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. That, for a club competing in four competitions this season, is absolutely ridiculous. That, and the centre of midfield is still a bit heavy on creativity but light on steel.

Arsenal sold Vermaelen to Barcelona and didn't but a replacement. Callum Chambers can play there but isn't a natural by any means. Surely, some extra back-up for the main two or even competition to keep them on their toes would have been a priority for any normal-thinking manager this summer, particularly given the 20 odd goals they shipped in big games last season. Instead Wenger opted to spend the bulk of his transfer budget on another attacking midfielder in Alexis and a replacement for the injured Giroud in Danny Welbeck.

Arsene Wenger has this obsession with flair players that shows no signs of relenting. Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta, all right up his street. Since Vieira has left he has not had a 'governor' in central midfield. Of the current crop, Flamini comes by far the closest to fitting this bill. Aaron Ramsey is a box-to-box and can't be counted on all the time for defensive duties. Mikel Arteta is not dynamic enough to be the enforcer they need and Jack Wilshire's bark is significantly worse than his bite.

Wenger has left holes at the back again and as we've seen countless times in the past, the quality of the Arsenal attack will not be enough to win them the title over the course of the season.



4. Tom Cleverley's Chance to Reinvent Himself

Much ridiculed at United, Tom Cleverley actually did quite well on loan at Wigan in 2011. Roberto Martinez, his manager then, was keen to bring him to Everton this summer but the deal could not happen and, despite missing the deadline, Tom Cleverley will play for Aston Villa this season.

We may see a new Cleverley at Villa

He showed plenty of promise early on at United. His performances at the start of the 2011/12 season has fans drooling over the next Scholes. However he missed most of that season due to injury and never ended up playing anywhere near the same level again. Man United fans can be pretty brutal towards their own players at times and Cleverley has come in for more flak than most over the past two years. Playing in a two man midfield, you have to be as outstanding as Yaya Toure or Fernandinho for City last season and Cleverley was miles from that level. It's not that he does a lot particularly wrong, he just should have much more of an impact on games for the position he's playing.

He may do so at Villa, in the middle of the park or perhaps even out wide. I think playing in a three man midfield would suit him. He's not good enough to play as one of two. Alongside Fabian Delph and Ashley Westwood he could do well. Getting away from the scrutineering pressure of millions of United fans may do him the world of good too. Best of luck to him. He's not a bad lad.



5. The Premier League's Star Power

Plenty of big names have left the Premier League over the years. Last year it was Gareth Bale and this year it was Luis Suarez who departed these shores for warmer climate. This year however, a rake of big name arrivals means Suarez won't be missed too much.

Cesc Fabregas and Mario Balotelli have returned to England after spells back in their homeland. Didier Drogba is another returnee after two seasons away. Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez, Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao will all play in the Premier League for the first time this year. There was a time not so long ago players were hesitant to move to England from warmer climates but those days seem to be at an end. The weather hasn't changed so the deciding factor must be the higher wages on offer now in the Premier League.

While the Ronaldo's and Messi's of this world will always be drawn to Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Premier League has no several clubs who can attract stars out of the next bracket. Players will be drawn by the history and soul of Liverpool, or by the big money on offer at Chelsea and City. Or by United, who can offer both but no Champions League football until next season at least. It is good for the league to have so many stars in it. It will improve the overall quality, right across the board.

Of course the influx of massive foreign talent is dreadful for the England team but great for everyone else so who cares?



6. The Sky Sports News Circus Hits Town

One image we will all take away from Deadline Day was Sky reporter Darmesh Sheth's 'Talk to the hand' moment when referring to how far ahead this year's spending was ahead of last year. Absolute cringe-worthy television. Watch it here!

Transfer Deadline Day is basically Christmas for Sky Sports News, the absolute highlight of their year. They have taken it ridiculously over the top and it's now blown totally out of proportion. This does put added pressure on clubs to do business on the day. With Sky reporters camped outside their training ground, and everyone else rumoured to be doing something, it must be a nightmare for managers and chief executives alike. I'd almost sympathize with Wenger for taking the day off to go to a charity match in Rome, if his team didn't need more reinforcements.

Yellow on deadline day is apparently now a tradition

 Forget the actual football for a day. What really matters on September 1st is sightings of players at airports, rumours circulating wildly, club's rushing to get medical's done and paperwork submitted to the Premier League before the window "SLAMS SHUT" at 11pm.

I like transfer deadline day but it's fast becoming a bit of a guilty pleasure. Part of me feels as if football fans should care more about actual football than mindless gossip about which football was seen where, wearing what and looking like whatever. The same part of me cringes watching Jim White get ridiculously over-animated over a loan transfer between Southampton and Hull going through with just minutes to the deadline. It's unlikely to be a life-changing event for anyone, save the player.

But the other side of me totally loves the unpredictability of it all. It's here to stay, Can't fight it, might as well embrace it.