Make no mistake, the Premier League title will be won by the manager not necessarily with the most talented individuals, but with the best player management skills. After a record-breaking transfer window and so many personnel changes across the English Premier League, the measure of these managers – and some of the marquee players – will be how they handle squad rotation. The ripple effects from the summer continue to be felt into the fall. The leading lights of the EPL typically look down upon the League Cup as an opportunity to blood young talent and afford game time to players on the fringes of the first team, nothing more. Yet the much-maligned Capital One Cup provided interesting insight as to which squad is best equipped to challenge for the major honors.
Is Wenger reaping benefits from his group of well settled players while other managers are struggling with their new ones?Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all progressed to the next round and each fielded starting elevens that would scarcely be trusted to take the pitch in a league clash. After draining midweek obligations, only one of those teams then went on to collect all three points at the weekend and so it is Arsenal that now sit surprisingly at the top of the league. By contrast, Liverpool traveled to Old Trafford with an almost first-choice side on Wednesday, lost to their bitter rivals but then went on to out battle a physical Sunderland in the league on Sunday and move up to second place. Managing the prodigal Luis Suarez, and effectively combining him with Sturridge, may be Brendon Rodgers’ best trick so far. It gets better. Manchester City avenged last year’s FA Cup Final defeat to destroy Wigan in the League Cup but then conspire to lose away to Aston Villa four days later. If Cardiff City hadn’t mentioned it, welcome to the EPL Manuel Pellegrini.
The David Moyes obituaries may be a little prematurely written but there is no question that the pressure is mounting on the former Everton man. After a crushing and comprehensive dismantling at the hands of Manchester City (of all teams), there was then an excellent win in the cup against Liverpool that seemed to supply the perfect fillip. Not only that but it appeared the freshman Manchester United manager had finally seen enough of Kagawa to suggest he was beginning to get to grips with mounting concerns about a midfield lacking in creativity.
If there were any mitigating factors to a faltering start to their league campaign it was how the fixture list had conspired to give United a particularly testing start to the season. A home game against West Brom would not, at first blush, appear to fall into that caveat. Fast forward to Saturday afternoon, Kagawa has been mystifyingly substituted at half-time and Manchester United go on to lose 2-1 at home to West Brom for the first time in Premier League history. You feel the continued rehabilitation of Wayne Rooney and January transfer dealings will be particularly crucial if Moyes is to survive.
Mourinho has been grappling with similar player revolts at Chelsea with equally varying degrees of success. Having comfortably beaten Swindon in the League Cup and secured a healthy point at White Hart Lane on Saturday, there isn’t much on paper to undermine the Special One’s much-vaunted ego. Yet concerns remain. There is significant pressure not only for Mourinho to collect the trophies so effortlessly acquired in his career thus far but to also play in a style that also satisfies their Russian benefactor, Roman Abramovich’s thirst for aesthetic appeal. Mourinho has pointedly and publicly challenged the brilliant Juan Mata to get on board or seek employment elsewhere and still has to manage an aging squad with no obvious place for the $30 million Willian and the continuing conundrum that is Fernando Torres. Let us not forget that dressing room grumblings were instrumental in Mourinho’s departure from Real Madrid. Without a trusted forward line, the decision to loan out the prolific Lukaku to Everton casts further doubt on the decision-making at Stamford Bridge.
Andre Villas-Boas is at the helm of $100 million worth of talent tasked with replacing the most expensive player in the world. Spurs have made any excellent start, scoring freely in Europe and the Capital One Cup but have only registered six goals in six league games so far this season and faltered against Arsenal and Chelsea. If Villas-Boas’ challenge is to integrate a plethora of talent into a cohesive unit, local rivals Arsenal are struggling with quite different dynamics. With a threadbare squad, ravaged by injuries and indecisiveness in the transfer window, Arsenal prevailed against West Brom by virtue of penalties and the fearlessness of youth during the week. Arsene Wenger then went on to select the best of his League Cup juniors, Serge Gnabry, to start against Swansea who then went on to score his first Premiership goal and help secure all three points for a record twelfth consecutive away victory. The Premier League even at this early stage makes fascinating reading and a compelling argument for the particular importance of player management skills this season. If you’re not convinced, take a quick glance at fourth spot where Roberto Martinez has quietly steered Everton to an unbeaten start.
Written by Guest Authour Anne Robotham
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