Lessons learnt from the weekend's football
After a great weekend of football, it's time to sit back and take stock. Are Chelsea as good as we thought they were? Can Manchester City challenge for the title? Here's what we've learnt after the weekend's events...
Wayne Rooney is an expendable
Unfortunately Rooney hasn't been signed up to star in the sequel to Sylvester Stallone's summer blockbuster - although if his current poor form continues, he may fancy a change of career. In the meantime though, he could find his place in the Manchester United starting line-up at risk. It would have been unthinkable a couple of months ago, but with the superb form of Dimitar Berbatov, and Michael Owen scoring on Sunday, Rooney could end up warming the bench rather than goalkeepers' fingers this season.
Arsenal can be beaten at their own game
It's generally accepted that (Barcelona aside) to beat Arsenal you have to get tight quickly, stop them playing, and generally give them a kicking. But West Bromwich Albion gave the rule book a little tear with their performance on Saturday. They turned up to the Emirates and played some lovely football, totally dominating the Gunners for large portions of the game. It won't work for every team, but it was great to see an inferior side not resorting to strong-arm tactics to get the win.
Watford are looking like a very good team
The struggles of last season look to be over for Watford - for the moment at least. A decent start with only one defeat in their opening five games has got a whole lot better in the past few weeks, with three wins in their last three games. That would be impressive enough, but two of those wins included a 6-1 thumping of Millwall! At the New Den! That was followed by a 3-1 victory against pre-season Championship favourites Middlesbrough on Saturday. Ex-boss Brendan Rodgers and his Swansea side had better watch out tomorrow evening...
Manchester City really are a title threat
A good performance and, more importantly, a win against Chelsea was the perfect start to the Weekend for Manchester City. But things kept getting better for the Citizens, with Arsenal and Spurs losing on Saturday, and then Manchester United drawing on the Sunday. They are now level on points with Arsenal, one behind United, and four behind the Blues. With the top three showing they are all capable of dropping plenty of points this season. Could Roberto Mancini end City's wait for a trophy in the most emphatic way possible?
What else have you learnt? Let us know below...
Published: 27 Sep 2010
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