Premier League Murmurings Episode 1: West Brom 2-3 Chelsea, Everton 0-2 Man City

John Terry walks very, very slowly off the field after his soft red card.

Oh how different it all could have been, games turn on little moments yadayadayada. Yes if West Brom score that penalty then maybe everything is different or maybe Pedro scores five goals instead and Terry two, instead of his red card. Alas, West Brom lost 3-2 to Chelsea despite playing against ten men for a half hour of the proceedings; perhaps helped by the fact that the subbed on Ricky Lambert was invisible for most of the time he was on, making the numerical advantage count for far less then it did before his introduction. 

James Morrison scores the first of his two goals from the centre
of the area - with no Chelsea player there to stop him.

Chelsea won their first game of the season which is nice and all, but like Manchester United and Liverpool they still have concerns; Chelsea's are with their defending. They have now conceded seven goals in their first three games and it could have quite easily been more, as Man City and the almost hattricker James Morrison will attest. Their defensive line has apparently gone into a sharp decline, if we were to assume this form will last; and there are reasons to suspect that defensively Chelsea won’t be all Mourinho wants them to be this season.

For one John Terry is encroaching on his 35th year, and his pace is suffering for it. His red card was picked up because of West Brom striker Salomon Rondon outracing him in the final third, resulting in Terry pulling him back and being deservedly (?) sent off. For all his experience counts his decline in physical form will only get worse, and negatives will eventually outweigh the cons of having him on the field; and sooner then most pundits might like to think. 

It has not been the Serbian's season so far. 

This is of course being exacerbated by the very obvious drop in the form of Blanislav Ivanovic, who even today was beaten far too easily on numerous occasions. He was a bystander when Mcmanaman breezed past him to cross in for West Brom’s second goal, and could easily have been at fault for an equaliser when Mcmanaman easily beat him in the penalty area, only for the ex-Wigan winger to curl his shot a matter of inches wide. He was also easily beaten on the wing for the cross that eventually resulted in James Morrison's opener. Apart from that, stellar defending.

This particular fullback problem is of course a serious one; Chelsea must know that Ivanovic will end up being a target for every team in the league, and this destabilises the defence as a whole. A new right sided fullback or even a switching around of personnel (‘Dave’ Azpillicueta can also play right back) looks like a requirement sooner rather then later. Even that may not be enough.

Pedro calmed everything down for Chelsea following West Brom's penalty
miss, scoring one and setting up another as Chelsea took (brief) control.

On the bright side (for Chelse anyway), new signing Pedro already looks like a very good signing indeed. Besides his shot being deflected in, Pedro was very intelligent with how he used the ball; as can be expected from a player out of La Masia. His movement and technique on the ball is sure to be of benefit to other like Hazard, Oscar and especially Fabregas, who maybe needs more options in the final third to get back to better days. He doesn’t lack technically either by the way; this was demonstrated with a beautiful twist on the ball toward the end of the first half to set up Willian, only for him to fire wide. 

Yup, Pedro had a good debut and offers more to come. But if Chelsea want to challenge for the premier league title (and the champions league for that matter) then there are several gaping issues in defence for Chelsea to fix. This win did not erase them; if anything it only made these issues more of an urgent issue. Crystal Palace beckon, and Chelsea fans might be losing sleep over the fun Zaha, Bolasie and Sakho might have.

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Kolarov, Sterling and the quiet (for him) Aguero celebrate following
their latest winning goal.

Meanwhile Manchester City fans can sleep easy; for the time being. Having defeated Everton today in their most tightly fought fixture of the season so far Manchester City go next to win-shy Watford, and can reasonably expect to extend their winning run considering their current potency. Everton lost 2-0 to the ex-champions thanks to a fierce (but very saveable) shot from the tightest of angles, and it could have been more, if Sterling were a couple of inches longer and Navas wasn’t basically a spanish Aaron Lennon. 

It wasn't Lukaku's day; following a very narrowly disallowed goal,
Lukaku was snuffed out along with Barkley in the centre of midfield.

Not that Everton didn’t put up a fight, but Barkley and Lukaku, the main thrust of Everton’s sword, declined in the second half, having been looking dangerous running at Man City’s back four in the first. Like Tottenham they may have a problem with their two big players being central; just one player like Hazard on the wing for example moves a team to that side of the pitch and opens space for other players elsewhere. Without much of a wide threat though Everton found their main stars squeezed out of the game in the second half, while Man City with their threats everywhere, could afford Silva, Sterling and company the room to cut through Everton’s back line. 

Lease of life being the wrong phrase. More accurately David Silva is
now more free to be David Silva.

It was in the end Sterling and Kolarov, the new partnership to the blue moon bow, who made the breakthough, with Sterling baiting Stones before slipping Kolarov a pass down the byline, from where Kolarov smashed his past the lowered guard of Tim Howard. For a 50 million pound signing strangely enough it doesn’t feel like there is much pressure on Raheem Sterling; it is enough for him to give room to David Silva who is having a new lease of life in this new season, even if his replacement Samir Nasri has moved ahead of Sterling in actual goals. 

Sterling was quiet for portions of the game, but played the decisive pass for
Kolarov's goal and was a lingering threat.  

If this makes Sterling sounds unspectacular and not worth the fifty million it is partly true; he is not worth fifty million as even Pellegrini will tell you and he is in part unspectacular. But like Pedro and even Thomas Muller across the sea Sterling is in fact a very intelligent player, who makes room for other players with every movement he makes, as well as being a snappy presser in the final third; and this isn’t even his final form; he has lots of potential to realise even now, as the clever and pacy playmaker he essentially is.

He needs more goals, he needs to be more clinical, but when he does add those credits to his game Sterling will be the fantastic addition to Man City’s squad he can be rather then say, Mr Reliable as he is right now. And then you might just see Man City get even better then they are playing right now, and become a team that makes Pellegrini a Manchester City legend. 

Or, Sterling will get worse, Man City will be in tenth at Christmas and Pellegrini will be fired. I think it’s fair to say our predictions come to bite us in the back booty eventually. So lets just end this blog with me saying I have no idea about anything that could happen. Carry on everyone.