September
has ended. The Linesman highlights the talking points in English Premier League
in this month.
1.
Swansea's magic faltered: The honeymoon period is officially over. Not only has
Michu stopped scoring, so as the whole team. Since international break, Swansea
has collected no goals, no wins and conceded seven.
Their
struggles against the more physical teams recently could have ended in October
at home against Reading and Wigan. Whether Swansea can escape the slump will be
a good indication to Michael Laudrup's genuine managerial capability.
2.
Merseyside split: The Reds ended their blue September with a 5-2 win over
Norwich. Questions remain in their defence and finishing, which has let down
their improved passing ability. Everton's XI has been impressive and Moyes is
able to get the maximum out of the balanced starting lineup.
Squad
depth will be a concern, but their exit in Capital One Cup indicates their
determination to focus on securing the European berth.
3.
Officiating woes continue: It proves that officials are not merely biased
towards top teams. In general they are poor. Manchester City was the major
victim, conceding to Crouch's basketball
move and Riise's soft penalty. Jonjo Shelvey was sent off in Anfield, but
seeing Johnny Evans escaped. Antonio Valencia won a soft penalty which destined
to be the winning goal.
Demba
Ba of Newcastle benefited from a no-call handball against Reading, while his
team rescued a point at Goodison Park thanks to wrongly-disallowed goals for
Fellaini and Anichebe. More pairs of eyes clearly do not help; we need eyes of
better quality.
4.
Defence disaster: Southampton and Norwich just could not sustain their
concentration in defence for 90 minutes. More surprisingly, Manchester City,
who usually is good at defence, still could not keep one clean sheet this
season.
Manchester
United's struggle at the back is less unexpected, given only four healthy
senior defenders are available. Are the spears stronger, or has the shields
weakened this season?
5.
I love, I love Allardyce: What has he done wrong to not earn a new contract?
Even West Ham supporters, who clearly are not convinced by Big Sam's style,
could not resist praising the charismatic manager.
The
players would either be motivated to keep Big Sam in Upton Park, or demotivated
because of the lack of security. The management board is surely playing a
gamble, but the results speak for Big Sam.
By The Linesman
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LinesmanBlog
