The major flaw holding Man United’s defence back, Ruud van Nistelrooy extends hot streak to 21 games and why Enzo Maresca is so wrong about Chelsea: PREMIER LEAGUE THINGS WE LEARNED
The annual Game of the Year between Tottenham and Chelsea once again delivered as Manchester City and Arsenal dropped more costly points in their faltering title bids.
Storm Darragh put paid to the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park for the time being, while Ipswich Town’s wait for a home win rumbles on after a spectacular late collapse to Bournemouth.
Motoring on towards the halfway point in the season, many Premier League managers are still scratching their heads at repeated mistakes.
For Ruben Amorim, he is new to the Premier League circus and he saw plenty of problems as his Manchester United side fell to back to back defeats against a Nottingham Forest side that are well and truly in the driving seat when it comes to the battle for fifth.
Meanwhile, it was more agony for Ipswich as Kieran McKenna’s side fell to a third successive defeat after twice conceding late against Bournemouth.
In the latest instalment of this weekly column, Mail Sport picks out five of the most interesting talking points to emerge from the Premier League over the weekend.
Superb Cole Palmer inspired Chelsea to a 4-3 comeback win against Tottenham on Sunday night
Chelsea closed the gap on Arne Slot’s Liverpool, whose match against Everton was postponed
Meanwhile, perennial champions Man City were held to a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday
99 PROBLEMS AND OVERTHINKING IS ONE
As the rain came down on a miserable Saturday night for Manchester United, it no doubt dawned on Ruben Amorim just how big a job this is.
Not just to get his ideas across but also to weed out the individual errors that came to plague the era of his predecessor, Erik ten Hag.
Andre Onana’s inexplicable mistake was a throwback to his first six months at the club, but it was the three in front of him that were as much a cause for concern.
After his first game in the job, Amorim admitted his players are caught up in ‘overthinking’ what they need to do to play his style of football.
Growing pains. Normal when big changes are made.
But with United already in a perilous position down in 13th – and Sir Jim Ratcliffe clearly in a hurry for success after the brutal removal of sporting director Dan Ashworth on Saturday night – time to ride out the storm isn’t on their side.
United’s three centre backs on Saturday night were Leny Yoro, making his home debut, Matthjis de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez, and too often they looked, for want of a better word scared, to try a pass forward for fear of giving it away.
More often than not the crowd groaned as De Ligt passed it to Martinez, before Martinez passed it back to De Ligt and then it went to Yoro. Playing keep ball was infuriating a home crowd that was seeing their team down 1-3 at home to Nottingham Forest.
Ruben Amorim learned just how difficult his task at Man United is after another dismal result
Chris Wood scored what proved to be the winner for Nottingham Forest against the Red Devils
United made 522 passes against Forest with 229 passes made by centre backs – the three starters as well as substitute defenders plus Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui.
Further evidence of risk-averse centre backs is underlined by the fact that nobody passed to each other more than United’s centre backs did.
The top four pass combinations in United’s starting XI were: Martinez to De Ligt (26 times), De Ligt to Martinez (24), De Ligt to Yoro (18) and Yoro to De Ligt (15).
‘They are trying to reach a perfect solution,’ Amorim conceded afterwards when asked why his defenders looked scared to break the lines.
‘They need time to train. We are in the beginning; it’s just two weeks [together] and the focus is: don’t lose the ball in sloppy passes. They are trying that.
‘They are trying to do everything perfect but sometimes against low blocks you have to take a risk and we are on this path. I know that they have to have more confidence, not just to carry the ball [but] also play it through the lines. We did it in the first goal.’
Onana has been much improved this season and his rare error against Forest many will hope is a bad day at the office and not old habits creeping back in.
But the bigger problem is this back three and whether, with reinforcements not likely to be on the way in January, they can adapt quickly to Amorim’s demands.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is clearly in a hurry for success given the exit of Dan Ashworth (above) this week
Andre Onana had an afternoon to forget between the sticks and was at fault for Forest’s second
RUUD’S FIGHTING SPIRIT RUBS OFF
As Ruud van Nistelrooy watched Leicester from the stands at Brentford fall to their fourth defeat from seven away games this season it won’t have been lost on him that the message needed to be simple.
They had lost five of their previous six games before his arrival – he was responsible for two of them as Manchester United interim boss – and, in truth, the Foxes looked short on quality and short on fight.
And so after following up a 3-1 home win over West Ham with a valiant 2-2 comeback draw against Brighton, it is safe to say that his fighting spirit is already rubbing off.
Asked for his emotions after coming from 2-0 down to draw with Brighton, the Leicester boss said: ‘Excitement, joy, to see the team fight and play and play and fight at the same time. They deserved the point today.’
Van Nistelrooy is big on amping his players up, whether that be on the training pitch or through motivational videos, and while tougher tests will come, there are clear signs that he is getting through to this group.
Leicester look to have more energy in their press and, crucially, they don’t seem to be resigned to dropped points as they did towards the end of Steve Cooper’s reign – the Brighton comeback is evidence of that.
Trips to Newcastle and Liverpool, as well as hosting Manchester City, are three of their next four games and that may be a better barometer of where this newly-energised Leicester are at. But for now Van Nistelrooy can reflect on the fact that he has now avoided defeat in his last 21 games as manager (PSV, Man United and Leicester).
His last loss coming in a 3-0 defeat to Sevilla in Europa League, meaning he hasn’t lost a league game since January 2023.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester came back from two goals down to steal a draw against Brighton
Last gasp goals from Jamie Vardy (No 9) and Bobby Decordova Reid (right) gave the Foxes a huge 2-2 draw during Van Nistelrooy’s first match in the dugout at the King Power Stadium
OPEN PLAY CONCERNS FOR MIKEL
Arsenal’s set piece coach Nicolas Jover has been lauded across the league for turning the Gunners into a dead-ball monster – and rightly so.
But Sunday’s 1-1 draw to Fulham has raised the question of whether they have become too reliant on set pieces.
Leaving Craven Cottage with two more dropped points in their spluttering title bid, Arsenal need to seriously look at the data behind their lack of production outside of set pieces.
Mikel Arteta’s side have created an open play expected goal in just two of their last eight Premier League games.
Expand that out over the season so far and it’s five of 15 games, ranking them 10th in the Premier League for open play xG.
At Fulham, Arsenal had a 2.03xG, of which 1.73xG came from their set-pieces. Their xG from open play was just 0.29, their second lowest open play xG total since mustering 0.18 in their 2-2 draw away to Manchester City in September.
Of Arsenal’s 27 goals (excluding penalties) they have scored in the league this season, nine goals have come from set-pieces, which is 33.33 per cent of their total.
‘We should have scored from different ways as well because we had some big chances,’ Arteta said, rejecting the idea that they are too dependent on set pieces. He can dismiss it all he wants but the numbers don’t lie.
Arsenal and William Saliba (above) scored another goal from a set piece against Fulham
But the Gunners’ lack of productivity from open play will be alarming Mikel Arteta at the moment
MARESCA IS WRONG – CHELSEA CAN WIN IT ALL
‘The fans can dream because from the outside, it is quite clear,’ Maresca said after Chelsea came from 2-0 down to win 4-3 at Tottenham.
‘Inside, the reality is we are not ready, but the important thing is we improve day by day. Arsenal, City and Liverpool probably don’t slide like Marc Cucurella did!’
Maresca is wrong, though. This young, exciting, fearless Chelsea group can win it all. That doesn’t mean they will. Liverpool are still in the driving seat but with Manchester City a shell of their former selves and Arsenal growing too dependent on set pieces, Chelsea certainly can win it all.
Chelsea have the youngest team in the Premier League and while there are concerns, particularly defensively and with the goalkeeper, the good sign is that this Chelsea side are getting, and can get, better.
At Tottenham you got to see the fruits of Maresca’s labour. Jadon Sancho looked like the player Manchester United fell in love with at Borussia Dortmund, while Enzo Fernandez’s renaissance added another verse with his goal.
Chelsea have options aplenty in attacking areas, while Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia have become integral pieces at the base of midfield.
The Blues, too, have a bonafide superstar and match-winner in the form of Cole Palmer, who has been directly involved in 38 goals in the Premier League in 2024 (25 goals, 13 assists); the most by a Chelsea player in a single calendar year in the competition.
The biggest mark against any Chelsea title bid is goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. Jamie Carragher on commentary intimated as much that he is a barrier to success.
Enzo Maresca should not play down Chelsea’s title chances – the Blues can go on and win it all
Enzo Fernandez netted his third goal in four games as he continued his rich vein of form at Spurs
But Chelsea are the league’s top scorers and that firepower from a number of sources is enough reason to believe this young and fun group can fire their way past plenty in the league.
With no Big Six opponent until facing Man City on January 25, Chelsea now have a chance to prove that as clever as Maresca is, even he was wrong to write them off.
IPSWICH’S MISSED OPPORTUNITIES PILE UP
The sight of Bournemouth’s Dango Outtara running off in celebration of a 95th-minute winner at Portman Road on Sunday will have cut through the home crowd like a dagger.
That is now eight Premier League games at home since promotion and, still, zero wins to speak of.
Kieran McKenna’s side are the only team in the league yet to win at home, too, drawing four and losing the other four.
They had leads against Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Leicester, in the latter two it was stoppage-time equalisers or winners that was their undoing.
The widely-held view for many weeks was that Ipswich looked the most capable of the promoted teams to stay up beyond May.
But that belief is beginning to wane as it dawns on people that McKenna’s side have a penchant for coughing up leads.
Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara (left) scored in the 95th minute to snatch a 2-1 win over Ipswich
Kieran McKenna’s side need to start churning out results or Premier League relegation will loom
The Tractor Boys have had the lead in seven games this season. They have only gone on to win one of them (versus Tottenham).
Ipswich’s 15 dropped points from winning positions is the most of any team in the league, ahead of second-placed Brentford (14).
McKenna has seen his side throw leads away against Manchester City, Fulham, Aston Villa, Brentford, Leicester City, Bournemouth, taking just three points in the process. Four of these games came at Portman Road, too.
Ipswich’s season is already becoming a case of what might have been. What might have been had they taken their chances against Manchester United? What might have been had they held on against Leicester and Bournemouth? What might have been if they’d have put their foot on the gas against Fulham and Aston Villa?
McKenna and his staff must do everything they can from hereon in to stop this ending up as a season of missed opportunities.
