Crystal Palace were fluent and incisive in beating Chelsea, while Manchester United suffered problems from No1 to No9 in their defeat at Swansea
1) Bolasie personifies Palace renaissance under Pardew
Instinct is to linger on Chelsea’s sudden and uncharacteristic deficiencies, but they were beaten by the more incisive, fluent side on Saturday with Crystal Palace’s cause very clear. Alan Pardew had taken a phone-call from Yannick Bolasie last Thursday with the winger insistent he was eager to play a part at Stamford Bridge after a period of compassionate leave back in DR Congo following the death of his father. José Mourinho had made a beeline for the 26-year-old in the dug-out to offer his condolences prior to kick-off, though it was the cameo offered up here late on that put a smile back on Bolasie’s face. The former Plymouth and Bristol City forward personifies Palace’s renaissance. He plays with such joy, utterly unfazed by the calibre of the full-back attempting to snuff out his threat, and that ferocious pace and lavish, if unpredictable, skill are key to this team’s bite on the counter-attack. They have mustered 10 wins from Pardew’s 12 away games in all competitions and a player who rose with them through the play-offs in 2013 – one of seven who remain regularly involved from that promotion winning campaign – has been a huge part of those successes.
Palace’s immediate task is to ward off any late interest in prising Bolasie away before Tuesday’s transfer deadline. The co-chairman, Steve Parish, has admitted it would take “an extraordinary bid, crazy money” to prompt business. “The chairman has done brilliantly since I’ve been here,” said Pardew. “We have constant communication. We know what we’re trying to achieve and, obviously, Yala is a big part of our plans. It will take an unbelievable offer to get him out of here. If someone was to make that, we’ll listen.” But that was said in anticipation of no bids being forthcoming. Palace will be happy to retain this force of nature, and will then spend the next few weeks tying him down to a new contract. For now, this team are happy just to see Bolasie’s broad smile restored. “I can’t stand here and say I know what he is going through, but we support him every way we can,” said Joel Ward. “The last two results have been for him really and for his family. We are a family, at the end of the day. When something like this happens it affects us all. We all stand side by side and that showed at Chelsea.”
2) Van Gaal’s United have issues from front to back
Where to start? Manchester United’s No1 goalkeeper is nowhere to be seen. Or, to paraphrase Louis van Gaal, David de Gea’s future is in Ed Woodward’s hands. Daley Blind, a defensive midfielder or left-wing back, is playing at centre-half. Juan Mata, a No10, is being deployed wide on the right. And Wayne Rooney... Wayne Rooney is not a No9. Not on the evidence of what we saw at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday, or the performance he put on at Villa Park a fortnight or so earlier. Rooney turns 30 in October and it shows, particularly when Ashley Williams, who celebrated his 31st birthday last week, gives him two yards and catches him. Twice. Williams is an excellent defender. Usain Bolt he is not. Rooney still has a part to play, but surely that is deeper, where his brain, and not his legs, need to be quick.
All of which means United need a new striker to spearhead their attack – a Ruud van Nistelrooy in his prime. Good luck finding one of those with less than 48 hours to go before the window closes. But it is not just the personnel. What about the tactics? Possession with no penetration. Forget the passing stats; United have scored three times in four league games and one of those was an own goal. The United of old – dynamic, attacking, entertaining, relentless – would have responded to Swansea scoring twice in five minutes. Van Gaal’s players, by the United manager’s own admission, could not cope with the tactical changes Swansea made. As for Van Gaal, Plan B was to bring on Marouane Fellaini, stick him up top and hope he could make a nuisance of himself. United’s supporters surely deserve a bit better than that after a £230m spending spree. As for Swansea, they’re quite happy with André Ayew and Bafétimbi Gomis, a couple of free transfers
3) Lovren blunder adds to Rodgers’ challenge at Liverpool
One view shared by the two managers at Anfield on Saturday is that, when it comes to getting the best from Dejan Lovren, confidence is vital. Brendan Rodgers had claimed it was key to his £20m signing’s steady start to the new campaign. After that ended with a dreadful error that presented West Ham United with their second goal in the 3-0 win, Slaven Bilic said: “He was over-confident and that can happen.” Bilic was otherwise fulsome in his praise of his fellow Croatian, insisting that: “When he’s concentrating and thinking only about his own game, not about the left-back or whoever is alongside him, there are very few centre-halves who are better than him.” Though he did add the caveat: “I’m not objective about him because I like him.” But it is Rodgers who has the delicate task of ensuring Lovren’s focus remains firm and is not derailed by one high-profile blip. The Liverpool manager’s words and selections this season have made it clear that the former Southampton player ranks above Mamadou Sakho in his defensive pecking order. Sakho, who sparked ironic cheers on Saturday when he started warming up as a substitute on Saturday, was also overlooked when Rodgers reverted to a three-man central defence at half-time. The manager must hope his faith in Lovren is rewarded when a Coutinho-less Liverpool head to Old Trafford after the international break.
4) Determined City maintain perfect start
Vincent Kompany has led a rear-guard that has so far not been breached in four outings. He is also the captain of a Manchester City team that has a perfect 12 points from those games. Elite sport is marginal, the difference between champions and also-rans decided on a close to quasi-intangible basis. Yet observed closely the big difference in a side that has featured only one of the new summer arrivals thus far – Raheem Sterling – appears the heightened determination from first to final whistle. As Kompany says: “The main thing I’ve seen this season is just an extreme amount of focus around the dressing room. No satisfaction whatsoever out of the first four wins. It’s nice for the defenders, for the strikers, for the club and fans but nothing more than that. We’ve got [next] a very tricky away game at [Crystal] Palace. We’ve all seen what they’ve done to Chelsea. But it’s good. You play Everton away and West Brom away – very tricky away games – and win so now it’s to Palace. It’s good to get those games out of the way and negotiate them in the way we have done.” After the international break, Alan Pardew’s men will welcome City to Selhurst Park following City’s 2-0 dismantling of Watford at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. This has been the story of City in August. All-comers have been cuffed aside. The fascination next month is to discover if it can be the story of City’s September, too.
5) Newcastle’s Mitrovic needs to get a grip
He does not celebrate his 21st birthday until the middle of September so, in many ways, Aleksandar Mitrovic is still really a baby. The trouble is that it cost Newcastle United, depending on who you believe, somewhere between £13m and £15m to move the Serbia striker from Anderlecht to St James’ Park, and Mike Ashley likes a return on his money. Newcastle’s owner probably believed he was buying a gifted young striker with high potential resale value once Steve McClaren’s undoubted stellar coaching skills had honed his potential but the problem is that McClaren is not superhuman: he cannot make a leopard change its spots. Arguably harsh but anything but entirely surprising, Mitrovic’s record of two bookings and one sending off in four Premier League appearances for Newcastle emphasises that he is immature – possibly with complicated anger issues – and trapped in the body of a formidable man. Newcastle’s manager is going to need all his man-management skills plus the psychological input of his motivational guru Steve Black to sort this one out. If anyone can help it is Black – just ask Jonny Wilkinson – but might it not have been simpler to have bitten the bullet and paid a little more to sign Charlie Austin from QPR earlier this summer? Only those with privileged information know the reality of Austin’s injury problems yet, on paper at least, he appears a more obvious answer than Mitrovic.
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