EPL Monday: David De Gea Makes A Difference; Arsenal Rollercoaster Continues; Terrible Miss by Jozy Altidore

We continue to inch closer to the half-way mark of the 2014-15 EPL season. I’m hard-pressed to think of a less-interesting slate of games than the early kickoffs of Saturday. Chelsea went up 1-0 quickly on Hull City at Stamford Bridge on a Eden Hazard header of all things, rendering that game nothing more than a formality. Manchester City eventually grabbed a goal from Frank Lampard to go ahead of Leicester City, although that match wasn’t quite as open-and-shut as Chelsea. The weekend did get a little more compelling as we progressed …

Star System:

Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-0 on Sunday at Old Trafford. We can say this much with conviction following the result:

a) David De Gea is at the top of his game in goal for United.
b) Liverpool dropped keeper Simon Mignolet for the foreseeable future, although based on Sunday’s game Brad Jones isn’t the long term answer, meaning the club needs to look for a keeper — which Brendan Rodgers needs about as much right now as another self-portrait hanging inside his house.
c) The following tweet:

The 3-0 final scoreline was probably a fair result from the match, if misleading since Liverpool — which began the match without a traditional striker — created numerous chances, namely through Raheem Sterling and later Mario Balotelli. Although Louis van Gaal is loathe to praise individuals, odds are United doesn’t win that match if not for De Gea making save-after-save. As I wrote yesterday, when a keeper is pressed to make eight important saves, yes, individually it looks great but it’s not the most encouraging sign overall for a team. Odds are, over the course of the season if you’re allowing opposing strikers to get behind your defenders to create one-on-ones with the keepers, you’ll eventually get burned.

At the moment one important difference between United and Liverpool — beyond the 10 points in the table — is that the Red Devils continue to receive standout individual performances, mostly from De Gea, while the Reds’ entire squad continues to struggle. United still have Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie capable, in bursts, of making game-changing plays on the offensive end, allowing van Gaal’s converted wingbacks and others time to gel. United are up to third in the table with 31 points — five better than Arsenal or Southampton. Going forward, the lack of European matches on the horizon is probably a positive for United since it can consolidate and focus all its attention on finishing within the Top Four and maybe making a run in the FA Cup as time develops.

As the tired old cliché goes: goals change games. United have players capable of providing and denying them with regularity, while Liverpool doesn’t.

Mystery City:

What a difference a couple of months makes. Back in August, Manchester City opened the season with one all-galaxy striker (Sergio Agüero), a reliable, proven, all-around forward (Edin Dzeko), a solid, physical striker (Alvaro Negredo) and a highly-touted, dynamic forward coming off injuries (Stevan Jovetic). Now? City is down to … 18-year-old Jose Pozo starting league games, with 20 goals on the bench due to injury. Agüero, 14 goals, is out until sometime in early 2015, Dzeko (2) injured himself in warmups on Saturday and Jovetic (4) also can’t shake the injury bug, while Negredo was loaned to Valencia on Sept. 1.

Striker, was once an area of strength and depth for City, but with January looming, the club might have to buy or take out a loan. If Dzeko or Jovetic are unable to gain fitness, the congested holiday period will take a lot of juggling and creativity from Manuel Pellegrini. Consider also Yaya Toure will miss time at the African Cup of Nations and captain Vincent Kompany continues to have his own injury issues, so City need reinforcements.

City is alive in the Champions League thanks to Samir Nasri and did welcome David Silva back vs. Leicester, but need to supplement the lineup in January beyond extending Frank Lampard’s loan. Money isn’t an issue for City, although Financial Fair Play could complicate matters.

Everybody (Still) Loves Arsene:

A couple bad comparisons danced through my head during Arsenal’s emphatic 4-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday. Are the Gunners a rollercoaster? The stock market? Something else that goes wildly up-and-down with regularity that causes consternation? More and more, the Wenger/Arsenal fan relationship feels like stock family sitcom plotting. Sure one week you’re on a train platform hurling obscenities, but the next you’re predictably back in a loving awwwwww-worthy embrace as the credits fade.

Whatever it is, Arsenal worked itself into a weird plane of existence where every loss — be in the Champions League or on the road at Stoke City — is treated like the world is on fire, before cooler heads prevail. (I’m guilty of that occasionally, too, in fairness.) I suppose until Wenger wins the league title again, however unlikely, this scenario is going to exist. The fluctuation from pure, abject dismay from Arsenal fans to accepting there is comfort finishing within the Top Four each week is manic.

For this week, everything remains rosy. Arsenal won a game with Mathieu Debuchy playing center back. Héctor Bellerín came out of reserve to provide some pace. Alexis Sanchez, Santi Carzola and Olivier Giroud did their thing. Best of all, the Champions League Round of 16 pairing with AS Monaco is quite favorable, given the Gunners could have drawn Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, etc.

Until next week’s episode, Wenger once again knows what he’s doing … of course until he doesn’t.

Goal of the Week:

Oliver Giroud tuned in Héctor Bellerín’s cross from the sheer angle in Arsenal’s romp over Newcastle.

Stat of the Week:

Longevity, thy name is Lampard.

Oh, Jozy:

[Sad trombone]

Odds & Ends:

Southampton returned to reality, losing its fourth straight match except this weekend the defeat came at the hands of Burnley rather than one of the top teams in the league. … West Ham drew Sunderland and remain fourth in the table. … Harry Kane scored again and Spurs got another late-winner, beating Swansea 2-1 on the road to move up to seventh. … After losing to Chelsea, Hull are down to 19th and appear fully in the grips of “second season” syndrome. … Although he hasn’t scored in the EPL in over a year, there are continued murmurings that Altidore is wanted by clubs in Germany and France. … Brek Shea’s career at Stoke City appears over, as he’s primed to move to MLS expansion team Orlando City in January..

Looking Ahead:

Next week Sunday is the better day for games, again. First its the always-heated Tyne-Wear Derby between Newcastle and Sunderland. Later we get Arsenal/Liverpool at Anfield.

[Photos via Getty]