Premier League Round-Up: Matchweek 13
Matchweek 13:
West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Brighton 0-2 Leicester
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich
Watford 0-3 Burnley
Man City 2-1 Chelsea
Sheff United 3-3 Man United
Aston Villa 2-0 Newcastle
Pochettino Out, Mourinho In
Credit: Metro
So I probably should of wrote a separate blog about this last week because it’s such a big topic, but I just never got around to it. While we were in the middle of international break, Tottenham decided to be the first club to pull the plug on their manager. Mauricio Pochettino had been at Tottenham since 2014 and despite multiple successful seasons, that success never turned into silverware for Tottenham. So instead of doing what any reasonable club would do and that’s canning Pochettino after there last game on Saturday November 9th. They wait a week and a half later when the international break is almost over and fire him on Tuesday November 19th. In what world does it make since to wait 10 days to fire a coach when literally nothing happened in between? The international break would have given them the perfect opportunity to allow their new coach, now Mourinho, to come in and have 2 weeks to make changes. But then again it’s Tottenham we are talking about.
But I do have to say, Mourinho in my opinion is a great hire. He’s won trophies everywhere he’s went, and for a club like Tottenham that is trying to get on the big stage, that’s exactly what they need. They have a brand new stadium, a very talented squad, and now a coach who knows how to win. As a Chelsea fan I’m actually going to be rooting for Tottenham when it doesn’t directly effect Chelsea. Arsenal I could never, but Mourinho can make me cheer for even Tottenham. The most surprising part of all of this is that Mourinho accepted this position. Again, it’s not a bad spot with the squad being pretty good, but after his recent spell at United I would have thought for sure he would be leaving the Premier League and taking over a guaranteed winner like Bayern Munich. But Mourinho is going to tough it out in the Premier League in what may be one of his biggest challenges as a manager to date. With a 3-2 win over West Ham, he’s off to a winning start.
(Refresh page if video doesn’t load)
Other Notes:
Chelsea impress but Manchester City show who’s the better squad. For the first 30 mins of the game, Chelsea dominated possession and had numerous chances at goal which eventually led to one. But after the Chelsea goal, City flipped another switch and showed why they are 2 time defending champs. It was a much needed win for City, who are 9 pts behind Liverpool in first place, and a moral victory for Chelsea if you believe in those.
Solskjaer and Emery are the next two on the hot seat with Pochettino gone. Man United fought back from a 2 goal deficit against Sheffield United and actually grabbed the lead with 10 mins remaining but Sheffield United pulled back level in injury time. Arsenal on the other hand were dominated by 19th place Southampton and due to an injury time goal squeaked out a draw. I think Emery is the next to go and it’s shocking that it hasn’t happened yet. Pochettino to Arsenal, once it does happen?
With Chelsea picking up a loss this weekend, Leicester City now sit in sole 2nd place. And how about this stat to prove Leicester’s dominance has not been a fluke. They have only allowed a league leading 8 goals through 13 games. Next best is Liverpool with 11 goals allowed. But their defense isn’t their only strong suit, they also are tied with Manchester City with highest goal differential in the league with 23. I’m loving every bit of this Leicester City run and hoping they can continue this to a spot in Europe next season.
Thanny