Football News: Matchday 4 - Quick Round Up

Match Day 4 Round Up

Before I start this round up, just one thing I feel I should mention, this weekend was one of the worst in terms of exciting football that I can remember. Not one match was really enjoyable as a spectacle. It was almost as turgid as the international break was!

Saturday 13th September

Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest

A very convincing win for Arsenal, but they were very uninspiring despite being up against a Forest side in complete disarray following events over recent weeks. Postecoglou has only had one full training session with the players due to the international break, and it showed. They failed to trouble Arsenal at all, who looked rock solid in defence despite lacking Saliba, showing nothing in terms of an attacking threat. The Gunners will rarely have an easier day this season, even though they went in without Rice as well as Saliba and Saka, Forest failed to put any pressure on the midfield. It just felt like Arsenal could have offered more, particularly with Madueke, who had Morato on toast but produced nothing in the way of end product from it. He can deliver good quality, as we saw from his corners, so clearly just needs to work on slowing down a bit before playing a ball across or just taking the ball in closer into the box with Morato being so poor. By the way, when I say Arsenal were very uninspiring, that was more about how easy it was for them, which enabled them to stroll around without having to be outstanding to win at a canter. Arsenal were just so much better than this Forest side that they never had to perform at anything like their best to get the three points. It is a huge change from the early part of last season, when the one thing Forest did do is make themselves difficult to beat. As the season reached the final stretch, they seemed to lose their way and they have yet to find it. They went from a well-organised, difficult to beat team with a counter attack that kept every game in the balance, to a disorganised mess. Whereas Arsenal have that organisation, which kept Forest from ever seriously threatening them. The Gunners are still struggling to adapt to Gyokeres' game, which could make a huge difference to them when they do. The big forward barely even saw the ball but still managed to get on the scoresheet, if they start creating him more chances, they will have a much better chance of trophies this season. Forest, on the other hand, will need Postecoglou to sort them out quickly or they could find themselves in a relegation battle this season.

Starmen:
Timber - always impressive, but usually he seems to get injured when I watch them play, so it was good to see him make it through 90 minutes! He has the look of a player who could play anywhere and do a good job for the team.
Mosquera - he has stepped into Saliba's shoes effortlessly.
Gabriel - has been getting better and better over the last few years.
Zubimendi - he is a bit lightweight and lacking in mobility, but he is excellent technically as he showed with his first goal. Given time and space and under so little pressure made it an easy game for him. He is not normally known for his goalscoring, but he was able to get two goals.
Anderson - unfortunately his role kept him heavily shackled deep in midfield, but he was still head and shoulders above everyone else in the Forest team.

Flops:
Postecoglou - never made any attempt to set out the team to cause Arsenal any issues at all. He would have known Rice was being rested at least an hour before kick-off, but did nothing to set up his team to take advantage of that fact. You have to question whether he had even bothered to watch any of his new team play football before, considering his idiotic decision to start Morato, a very immobile and not very good centre-back, at left-back.
Morato - a bumbling performance at full-back, which improved only slightly when moved inside following Murillo's injury. He does not look anywhere near good enough for the Premier League.
Gibbs-White - by a mile, the worst player on the pitch. His insistence on trying to pull off an intricate flick, which always fails, when it was perfectly possible to play a simple pass to the same place he was trying to flick it to, is costing possession time and time again. The biggest mistake Forest made in the summer was to keep hold of him.
Hudson-Odoi - not just a dreadful performance, but a lazy one. He just looked like he could not be bothered for long periods of the game.

Newcastle United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

A game I was not able to watch, thankfully. Newcastle's dogged kick the opposition into submission, all while throwing yourself to the floor at every opportunity and rolling around for five minutes tactical plan is not very appealing to watch. It does seem to be fairly effective. Unsurprisingly, they won via a header from a tall player, the surprise was that it was Woltemade and not Burn that got it. On the other hand Wolves just look like the team that started last season - terrible. Pereira seems to have thrown out the tactics that got them wins last season and is making some incredibly bizarre decisions with regard to selection. He reverted to a back three, but went back to the one that had been making constant errors, while putting his newly signed centre-back into midfield. It is beginning to look like he just got lucky at the end of last season, as his tactics have changed to mainly involving passing back to the keeper.

Starmen:
Murphy - he is not a great winger, but he does know his limitations and so just puts the ball into the box nice and early for a forward to attack. That is exactly what a striker wants, as then he is able to attack the cross, rather than being stationery or moving back when the ball eventually comes in.
Woltemade - he was nicknamed Woltemessi in Germany for his ability with his feet and was known for struggling with his head, despite his height. A good, early cross and he is off the mark in England, with his head as well.

Flops:
Guimaraes - he is a great player, but he needs to cut out the constant diving and the ridiculous challenges. How he ever finishes a match is completely beyond me. He can rack up yellow card offences for 90 minutes and only ever seems to pick one up right near the end.
Hee-chan - runs around a lot, but does not do enough. He is always on the periphery of games.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Sunderland

Another game I was glad to not have to watch. Palace are a team that need the opposition to come at them to be at their best, they are a bit lost when the other team also wants to sit back. They have no idea what to do in situations like that. Games like this are why they are failing to make progress in the Prem, they need a plan B to pick up three points in these matches at home. Sunderland will be perfectly happy with an away point.

Everton 0-0 Aston Villa

Unfortunately, this was the main game shown here, so I sat through it. It was a game between two managers who were mainly focused on not losing and so never really went for it. Moyes could not even be bothered to use all his substitutes to try and pick up the win that looked to be there on a platter for the Toffees in the first half. Emery has just thrown out of the window all of the things that put Villa into the Champions League places. They are now ponderous with absolutely no width, McGinn is constantly being put on the right wing! They look severely under coaches, as the team patterns and play are virtually none. It almost feels like Emery has thrown in the towel there after a difficult transfer window.

Starmen:
Garner - has really stepped up this season, particularly when played at left-back, oddly enough.
Ndiaye - he is a constant menace with his pace and trickery.
Bogarde - was Villa's best player.
Martinez - he may be a thoroughly detestable personality, but he is still a very good keeper when he wants to be.

Flops:
Beto - I am not sure I have ever seen a professional footballer with such a poor touch as him. He is absolutely useless when the ball is played up to him, rather than beyond him to run onto.
Barry - he seemed to come onto the pitch and then vanish.
Watkins - normally you can rely on him to run himself into the ground, constantly getting forward, normally either getting caught offside or lashing a shot into the crowd admittedly, but he does make the runs. In this game, he barely bothered.
Rogers - he is really offering nothing this season so far.

Fulham 1-0 Leeds United

Another of the games I did not get to see. Again not much missed as Leeds fought hard for a draw and almost got it but for a late own goal by one of their better players this season. Fulham will just be glad to have finally had some luck go their way for a change after a season that has seen them play much better than their results would suggest. Leeds really need to get a goal in open play soon, before it starts to weigh on the players' minds, if it has not begun to do so already. Farke also needs to be more positive, he surely is not employed to make Leeds one of the top 26 teams in the country, like he said was his aim at Norwich City. He has to show more ambition, as his team showed against Everton that they are much better when playing on the front foot.

Bournemouth 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

While I was watching Everton and Villa cure insomnia, this south coast derby was at least having some goals to make it watchable. Bournemouth triumphed, which could be seen as a victory for football, as the Cherries play a much more exciting style of football than Brighton do. You do have to wonder how much longer Bournemouth can hold on to Iraola, he plays football that looks like it could translate well to any team and league set up. BHA, on the other hand, look like they have hit the glass ceiling and the only reason they are not likely to slip down the table is because of how many teams are in a mess this season.

Starman:
Semenyo - very raw technically, but he works hard and has pace to burn.

Flop:
Petrovic - made an error which gave Brighton their goal.

West Ham United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Potter's insistence on starting with the most immobile and slow-witted central midfield pairing in Premier League history will be his undoing at this rate. Neither Soucek nor Ward-Prowse are good enough to be starters in the Prem anyway, putting them together is asking for trouble. Soucek is very weak technically on the ball, his first touch is terrible, which led to his red card, and he is an awful passer of the ball. Ward-Prowse is afraid of taking a chance and his one strength of being able to deliver a good setpiece has vanished in recent years. To be fair, in the first half the game was even, but Frank was able to make tweaks at half-time and Spurs just overrun the Hammers in midfield in the second half. The red card had little material effect on the result, other than to make it easier for Spurs to control the game. The lack of legs in midfield was able to be covered fairly well by the rest of the Hammers team for the first 45 minutes, but second half the gaps began to open, particularly after the first goal went in. If felt like Tottenham could open up West Ham at will and the second goal was coming even if Soucek had stayed on the pitch. The lack of an actual striker did not help West Ham, it made the game far too easy for Spurs, with no one putting their defence under pressure.

Starmen:
Diouf - he looks an excellent acquisition.
Sarr - works hard and is always a threat in the air. Also scored the opening goal.
Bergvall - a goal and an assist, he is a very willing runner.

Flops:
Hermansen - once again lets in a shot he should have saved. He does not even seem to be any good with his feet either, a very bizarre signing.
Soucek - got a red card that was a consequence of his total inability to control a football. He does try his best, but his best is not Premier League level.
Ward-Prowse - just not good enough to be playing at the top level.
Paqueta - not at the races at all, never seemed like he understood what he was meant to be doing.

Brentford 2-2 Chelsea

Maresca got his starting line up all wrong and paid the price by dropping two points against a Bees team that look much worse than they did last season. In fact, Maresca's tactics were a bit of a mess, switching between a back four out of possession and a back three in possession, but not with any assurance. It was a pretty makeshift backline, which showed in their lack of organisation, which allowed Schade to run free to open the scoring while Fofana had a quick nap on the halfway line. To his credit, Maresca did change things up at half time, his changes put Chelsea in charge and they were able to get the lead, but this is not a good Brentford side at all and they were inviting pressure on themselves constantly. Lewis-Potter looked like he had never played there before and their defence was an even more disorganised mess than Chelsea's, but with the benefit of having lots of bodies dropping in and filling spaces. Half the time they were getting in each other's way. The Blues really should have gone on to win comfortably.

Starmen:
Kayode - got up and down really well and his long throw was a real threat that they did not make enough use of.
Henderson - I was surprised by his energy and workrate, constantly covering in front of the backline and making it difficult for Chelsea. His assist for the opening goal was an excellent piece of vision and a very good pass.
Schade - he is not the best player in the world, but his pace and willingness to chase everything gave Chelsea a really difficult time.
Neto - usually better on the left, but he was causing Lewis-Potter no end of trouble on the right. He needed a centre-forward to hit in the centre once he got into a good position.

Flops:
Lewis-Potter - he could not cope with Neto at all and his delivery when on the ball was awful. Possibly because his feet were all crossed up from trying to deal with Neto.
Yarmoliuk - so many times he would get the ball in good positions and then just run with it until he lost it. He constantly tried to do too much when there were options available to him.
Pedro - spent far too much time dropping deep and was not there enough to get on the end of crosses.
Gittens - offered little on the ball and off the ball kept running too central, leaving Chelsea with no width on that side. There were a number of crosses from the right that just ran out of play on the left after being slightly overhit because he was not waiting before making his run.
Buonanotte - neat and tidy and ran around a lot, but achieved nothing.
Hato - struggled badly to cope with the pace of the game.
Fofana - he seemed to have no idea what his role was. His positional sense is suspect enough when he does know what he is meant to be doing.

Sunday 14th September

Burnley 0-1 Liverpool

Burnley spent all last season with everyone behind the ball, looking for a smash and grab and they reverted to type against Liverpool. It almost worked as well. They were extremely well organised, but a moment of stupidity undone them. It must be said that they were lucky to not be down to ten men in the first half, other than that, they just sat back and were happy to play out time. Liverpool are still developing an understanding and struggled to create any worthwhile chances, but they once again found a way to win. It is that relentless grinding down of teams throughout the game that is getting them the points right now. You are not going to play well every week, but the refusal to accept the game is over until the referee blows the final whistle is key to Liverpool's current success. Eventually the opposition tire, make a mistake or mistakes, and the chances come. As for Burnley, when your centre-forward spends most of the match in your own box defending, you are going to struggle. They got what they deserved, nothing.

Starmen:
Anthony - he gave everything, chasing back and breaking forward at every opportunity.
Gravenberch - showed some sublime moments of skill.
van Dijk - once again had a great game, looks back to something approaching his best.

Flops:
Mejbri - bottled it when Frimpong put a cross in and threw his arm up to give away the penalty. It was cowardly and stupid.
Ugochukwu - could, and probably should, have been sent off much earlier for his challenge on Mac Allister.
Mac Allister - still way off the pace and was really struggling, gave the ball away a few times.
Kerkez - got hooked early after an embarrassing dive which saw him booked. Incidentally, Gakpo was very lucky to escape a yellow card for the same thing in the second half.

Manchester City 3-0 Manchester United

City still do not look like the all-conquering Pep Guardiola team of old, you can see he has taken a step back as they do not look anything like as well coached as they used to be. The fact they were able to run out as comfortable winners in the Mancunian derby says more about how poor United are under Amorim, than how good City are. This was not a vintage battle of two top sides, this was one average side beating an extremely underwhelming side. City still look open at the back and vulnerable, but just nowhere near as open and vulnerable as United. Added to that, City had a Haaland high on confidence, which was one of the main differences as he battered the United defence. United are still not looking like a team suited to the system Amorim is trying to impose, especially in defence. They want to play a high line, but lack pace. United look like a 15th placed team, Amorim will need to fix it fast before the fans start to turn.

Starmen:
Khusanov - did make a few mistakes, but he was aggressive and worked hard to help Rodri, who looks way off match sharpness.
Doku - in the past he could beat players with ease but no defender was worried as he would then mess up the next bit. Today he was actually producing end product from his runs. With his pace and skill, that was all that was needed to make him an excellent player.
Haaland - absolutely battered the Man Utd defence around the pitch. He should have had a hat-trick.

Flops:
Silva - though he got an assist, for most of the game he looked like he was running in treacle and even his mind did not seem as sharp as usual. He looks like a player whose legs are going. As a player who has never relied on pace, that should not be too much of a problem in the short term.
Shaw - how has he managed to stay at Man Utd for so long? He can rarely get fit and when he is fit he is simply not very good. No positional sense, no brain and his pace has gone. He is a genuine liability.
De Ligt - he did improve after moving out of the centre of the back three, but while in the centre he was abysmal. He seemed to think he was there just to cover space and never got near Haaland or anyone else. He is far too slow over the ground to close a player down if he gives them space. This was why he improved after moving to the right, as he then got tight and aggressive, rather than just backing away.
Yoro - needed help and got none. Was torn a new one time and time again.

Written by Tris Burke September 15 2025 06:46:40