Matchday 37 - Quick Round Up

Match Day 37 Round Up

Friday 15th May

Aston Villa 4-2 Liverpool

A stroll to victory by Villa, with a scoreline that flattered Liverpool immensely. Villa were extremely effective in the attack, moving the ball quickly and giving Liverpool no time to organise. Liverpool were the exact opposite, they are getting worse, rather than better. Emery has made his team into one that creates chances and is particularly dangerous on a counter. Slot has made his team into a lumbering bunch, who lack fitness and consequently have no stamina to put in effort. It is hard to see how he is still in a job with the regression being so clear week by week.

Starmen:
Emery - when it matters, his teams turn up for him.
Rogers - his forward runs caused mayhem. He also got a goal and an assist.
McGinn - he makes such a huge difference to this team, no matter what position he plays.
Watkins - two goals and an assist.

Flops:
Slot - he is dragging a very good set of players down badly.
Gravenberch - he was so good last season sitting in front of the defence, it takes a special kind of stupid to mess that up by getting him to push forward.
Mac Allister - he is an embarrassment.
Mamardashvili - not good enough and should have done better on at least two of the goals.

Sunday 17th May

Manchester United 3-2 Nottingham Forest

A game that ended up being decided by a terrible VAR decision, sadly. There was not a huge amount riding on it, as Man Utd had already qualified for the Champions League and Forest were already safe from relegation, but it could be worth millions of pounds in terms of prize money for places in the Premier League. It was not a difficult decision, I have yet to hear even a single Man Utd supporter think it was correct. It is a shame that it overshadowed one of the better games of the season. I know that is a low bar, with entertainment in the Prem at an all-time low this season, but it was a very enjoyable game overall.

Starmen:
Fernandes - another assist to tie the Premier League record.
Cunha - really stepping up his game as the season ends.
Anderson - two assists and an excellent all-round performance.
Gibbs-White - he is the key to Forest's attacking play.

Flops:
The officials - how did they not see that hand ball?
Milenkovic - a rare error from the big Serbian.
Netz - is not yet up to speed with the Premier League.

Brentford 2-2 Crystal Palace

The Bees will be thankful they got away from this game with a point as they were dominated for long periods, they really did just not seem able to handle Palace at all. They were very poor and Palace should have gone home with all three points but failed to make the most of their chances.

Starmen:
Ouattara - he scored 2 goals, so I guess he has to go in this list, though he was not good other than that.
Wharton - scored his first ever Palace goal.
Lacroix - Palace's key defender.

Flops:
Kelleher - terrible mistake on the second and a poor day all round.
Thiago - he has scored so many goals this season, but he should have so many more as he passes up a lot of easy chances.
Pino - offered nothing.
Strand Larsen - he is not looking like a good fit so far.

Everton 1-3 Sunderland

The Toffees did their usual under Moyes and were far too passive and looked to sit deep and catch on the counter. It looked like it was working when they took the lead, despite Sunderland dominating the play to the point that you could hear the frustration amongst the fans in the stands. Unfortunately for them, the Mackems stepped up in the second half and ran out worthy and convincing winners. The Everton drop off in recent weeks does leave a number of questions for Moyes to answer. Is he really the right man to move them forward? They are little better off than they were last season, despite investing heavily in the squad. Sunderland will just be delighted to have survived so comfortably and put themselves in a strong position for next season.

Starmen:
Rohl - scored and looked good enough to make you question why he has barely featured this season.
Le Fee - a real handful in that central attacking midfield position.

Flops:
Pickford - an error strewn display.
O'Brien - he is simply not a right-back and it does cause real problems for Everton at times having him there.
Ndiaye - his form is becoming a worry now as he has not looked the same since going away to the AFCON.
Hume - playing a midfield role and he is simply not good enough in that position.
Sadiki - not at his best.

Leeds United 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion

Not really a smash and grab, though Leeds did score extremely late and Brighton were probably slightly better overall in terms of play. In the end though, it does not matter how well you pass the ball or how many chances you create, the only thing that truly matters is how many you take. Brighton were bright and full of passing intent but Leeds were always very dangerous and it did feel like they could score at any point. Added to that, Leeds had a much better goalkeeper on the day, with Verbruggen looking dodgy, while Darlow has blossomed in recent weeks.

Starmen:
Darlow - had an excellent game.
Ampadu - has played a captain's role well this season.
Calvert-Lewin - got the winning goal.
Gross - controlled the midfield.

Flops:
van Hecke - was at fault on the goal.
Verbruggen - has a poor game.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Fulham

A bit of a nothing game with pretty much nothing riding on it. It led to an odd atmosphere and it made it hard to really get into watching it. Both teams did feel like they were trying, but it just also felt like they did not really have any pressure or cares, so there were lots of sloppy errors.

Starmen:
Mane - scored the goal and looked the bright spot of the Wolves team.
Lukic - one of Fulham's best players this season.

Flops:
Wolfe - awful performance.
Armstrong - a League 2 striker somehow living the dream in the Premier League.
Robinson - scored the penalty but he is so off the pace right now. Even managed to commit the cardinal sin of giving away a foul throw. Absolutely terrible stuff.
Berge - should have scored a couple of times.

Newcastle United 3-1 West Ham United

There was so much riding on it for the Hammers, who desperately needed a win, which is why it is incredible that Nuno Espirito Santo sent out such a defensive side. He has such a negative outlook on football, like Moyes did, that he is exactly the wrong man to have in charge for a match when everything is riding on a win. He knows how to go for a draw and might sneak a win, but he is not a winner. Up against a revitalised Toon side, riding high on the Bruno Guimaraes return to fitness wave, playing a back 3 was just asking for trouble. This defeat is mainly the fault of Santo, who got it all wrong tactically and it might well cost them their place in the Premier League. Howe is fighting for his career at Newcastle, after a dreadful season has seen them battling mid-table mediocrity rather than fighting for a European place.

Starmen:
Guimaraes - by far and away Newcastle's best player.
Ramsey - had an excellent game and caused West Ham no end of problems. The defenders did not know whether to step out to deal with him or stay back.
Osula - scored two and has improved massively over the course of the season.
Castellanos - crazy to start the match with him on the bench, he was the only player looking capable of scoring for the Hammers and he did manage one.

Flops:
Trippier - looks finished at the top level.
Wilson - lacked service.
Soucek - was mostly bypassed during the game.
Hermansen - has far too many bad games.
Pablo - came off the bench to do nothing but drop West Ham deeper in the mire by gifting Newcastle a goal.
Santo - got it all wrong tactically, far too negative.

Monday 18th May

Arsenal 1-0 Burnley

While it did get a bit tense as the game went on, this was a much improved performance from Arsenal, who set out to beat the Clarets and took the game to them from the start. Burnley were hoping to take advantage of any nerves by sitting in and looking to hold out and with the Gunners unable to add a second to give them any safety margin, their plan did work to a small degree. It was never enough though to close the huge gap in quality between the two sides and Arsenal took their final step towards becoming Premier League champions. Final deserved step as, make no bones about it that, despite the sometimes dire style of football, Arsenal have been the best team in the Premier League. They did get some help from the officials, as Havertz tried his best to get himself sent off, but somehow VAR could not see the obvious!

Starmen:
Rice - not just played very well, he was quick to calm things down when it threatened to boil over and looked like a genuine leader.
Saka - the Gunners 'star boy' has stepped up in the last couple of games.
Arteta - good to see him let the team off the leash at last.

Flops:
Trossard - lost his cool with Flemming over nothing early on and could easily have set a completely different tone on the game.
Havertz - scored the goal but that stupid challenge that should have seen him sent off puts him in this section for sheer idiocy.
Flemming - tried to put himself about but could easily have ended up picking up a couple of yellows.
Mejbri - a poor game.

Tuesday 19th May

Bournemouth 1-1 Manchester City

It looked like it was going to be all about Man City ahead of the game, but Bournemouth are made of sterner stuff these days under Iraola. They are on a good run and with the home crowd more vocal than I can remember, the Cherries gave City one hell of a game, standing toe-to-toe with them for the 90 minutes. When you consider the differences between the two teams, one who was stripped of its best players and has had to be rebuilt, on a budget, to be competitive. The other has been able to just build on what it has, including taking Bournemouth's best player, year on year, yet there was very little to choose between the two. In many respects the Cherries play better, more entertaining football on their much lower budget. What a job Iraola has done.

Starmen:
Truffert - rarely has a bad game.
Kroupi - no wonder so many teams are showing interest in the young striker.
Evanilson - works so hard but does need to score more goals.
Haaland - when he joined City, he offered almost nothing but goals. Lots of goals, but that was it. Now he still scores lots of goals, but he works hard for the team and links well, plus he drags defenders around creating space for the midfield to work in.

Flops:
Senesi - struggled defensively, though some of his passing is excellent.
Kluivert - absolute disaster of a performance.
Kovacic - he has never really risen to the level required to be a regular at Citeh.

Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

This win kept Chelsea's hopes of European qualification alive and also West Ham's hopes of Premier League survival. It was a hard fought win as Spurs have finally woken up to their peril and begun to put in effort every week. You just have to wonder where this effort was earlier in the season? All the effort in the world cannot make up for the fact that they are simply not a very good side and even a struggling Chelsea side in horrible form were able to beat them. There were some nervy moments, as Spurs players were given time and space a number of times, but they lack the quality to make enough of their chances.

Starmen:
Santos - scored a goal and looked very good, much better than his much vaunted partner in midfield Caicedo.
Fernandez - an assist, a goal and hit the woodwork, Enzo had an excellent game.
Richarlison - scored Spurs only goal and worked hard throughout.

Flops:
Cucurella - a rare bad game for the left-back.
Delap - looks a really poor buy for Chelsea, he needs to improve his game massively.
Kolo Muani - a poor player who made a bad error.
van der Ven - one of the most overrated defenders around, he has a lot of pace, decent on the ball, but is still not a good defender, as well as often injured.
Udogie - dreadful performance.