Matchday 10 - Quick Round Up

Match Day 10 Round Up

Friday 6th November

Everton 3-1 Coventry City

Not a great game to watch, but it always teetered on the brink of turning into one, just never quite sustaining the excitement for long enough. The first half saw Everton looking surprisingly slow and laboured. Coming into the game in such good form, I had expected them to steamroller what is simply not a good Premier League side in Coventry, but they made heavy weather of it. The Toffees seemed a bit jaded after their victories over Newcastle United in their last couple of matches. At times they were getting overrun by the pace and energy Coventry displayed, but the lack of quality kept the score level at half-time, which saw the Everton fans unhappy enough for their to be a smattering of boos as the teams went in for the break. The second half was very much the same, then Coventry scored and Everton woke up and quickly showed the massive gap in quality between the two sides. Everton's defending was, at times, amateurish and they were lucky to get away without at least one penalty conceded. Firstly there was the challenge by Mykolenko, which I was not convinced was even a foul but he clearly dives on the ball with his arm and pulls it back in the box. That is a penalty usually. The second was the hair pull by Tarkowski, which looked to me more like he was trying to push the player away and caught his hand in the hair, rather than a deliberate pull, but a foul does not have to be deliberate to be a foul and on another day that would have been given. Overall though, the result was fair, Coventry were simply not good enough to beat Everton.

Starmen:
Garner - had a very good game, especially after Coventry scored.
Dewsbury-Hall - the man of the match with an excellent performance, even before Everton woke up he was trying to drive them on. Deservedly got a goal as well.
Barry - two goals and an assist takes him to double figures for the season. Not bad for a player who seems to miss an incredible number of chances.
Yirenkyi - in the first half Everton were making him look like a superstar, his energy and enthusiasm alone were excellent, but he also beat a man or two on occasion before releasing a pass at the right time. He was head and shoulders the best player on their team.
Sakamoto - I can see why the Coventry fans love him so much. He is a bundle of energy and enthusiasm.

Flops:
Attwell - the man is absolute dog muck as an official and he did his absolute best to ruin this match with nonsensical decision making. I am not even including the two potential penalties in this, as I would not expect someone as terrible an official as this pri, er I mean man, to notice either anyway. He was useless in the Championship. I have never seen a more useless referee than this utter and complete gobshite. He should never have been promoted up to this level and there is no reason why he is still at this level. You could get any part-time official and throw them in and they would do a better job. He needs to be removed from his job and be nowhere near professional refereeing as he is simply not cut out for it.
Gboho - seems to believe he is prime-Maradona, judging by his attempts to just run past every player on the pitch every time he got the ball. He needs to learn to pass the ball at the right times. He did score the Coventry goal, but the rest of his performance was terrible.
Rudoni - similar problem to Gboho, though more understandable in his case after all the smoke that has been blown up his backside in the media recently. He needs to forget all the praise and just go back to playing the way he was to start with - moving the ball on quickly and making runs to receive it back again. He has the ability to stay at this level long term, but he needs to return to what he was doing rather than trying to just run with the ball every time he gets in a dangerous position.
Rushworth - some of his kicks are excellent and accurate, especially his low balls out to midfield. However, his positioning is suspect and he neglects his near post every time, which left space for two of the goals. That is something I would expect opposition players to exploit now it has been made so starkly obvious.

Saturday 7th November

Leeds United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Two teams in very different form showing that form is temporary. Leeds had started the season really well but recently had hit the buffers and were sliding down the table alarmingly. Spurs looked to have turned it around after an horrendous start to the season, getting themselves on a good run. This match served as a reminder that Leeds are a very good side and that Spurs still have a long way to go. Even getting away with a very strong penalty shout for handball early on could not help Spurs to get a result. Though Spurs have a very good case to make that Leeds should have been down to ten men. Either, or both of those decisions could easily have gone the other way on another day. They are a team that had just escaped relegation the last two seasons running, they were never going to turn into a Champions League team over night, no matter how much money they spent in the summer. Leeds served as a good reminder of how far they still have to go and a good insight into how to build on a previous season with good recruitment.

Starmen:
Muharemovic - what a buy he looks to be. He has been one of the players of the season so far in the Premier League.
Tanaka - with Ampadu sitting and protecting the back three, the Japanese midfielder is able to use his energy to get about the pitch and get involved wherever he thinks he is needed.
Okafor - got the winner after coming on as a sub.

Flops:
Marmoush - struggled to get into the game.
Tonali - works hard but he achieved very little.
van der Ven - lightning fast, good on the ball but so poor at actually defending.

Fulham 1-1 Newcastle United

Fulham's biggest issue was that they were soft, their press was very weak, they were always too far off to put genuine pressure on the ball and so ended up chasing shadows. Apart from King, who actually closed down his man and made it difficult for them. A better team than Newcastle would have played around the Fulham press with ease. Last season Newcastle would have bullied Fulham physically, but this season they are looking soft as well, especially when Joelinton is once again out through injury. The Toon look a lot worse than they actually are, due to the manager's tactics, particularly his misuse of the two main forwards. Wissa is not, and never will be, a good number 10 player, who lacks the touch and quality on the ball to play that role. Osula is a pure striker, who wants to work within the width of the penalty box, making runs in behind, but he is being asked to run the channels instead, to pull defenders out of position for Wissa to run into the space. It would make much more sense to swap the pair over. Other than pace, including in wide areas, Newcastle have little to offer in attack due to this set up.

Starmen:
King - by a clear margin, Fulham's best player and also their only one with real fight. I do not see how they can hold onto him much longer.
Murphy - not a great player by any stretch of the imagination, but strikers know he is going to get the ball in as soon as he gets the chance, so they can gamble and make runs. This time he was the goalscorer, rather than creator.

Flops:
Robinson - his error allowed Newcastle to score.
Garcia - runs around a lot but achieves almost nothing.
Bobb - it is little wonder Citeh were happy to offload him, he offers little.
Osula - a poor game for the striker.
Wissa - has such a poor touch, he is playing far too deep to be of any use.
Gonzalez - another one that Man City got rid of happily. Lacks mobility and discipline.

Arsenal 1-0 Hull City

Arsenal were very flat, as was the atmosphere which did not help the players, but Hull deserve a lot of credit for their hard work and defensive discipline keeping Arsenal at arm's length for the entire first half. The second half saw the Gunners come out much more up for it and taking the game to Hull. You could see their discipline fraying as the pressure started to build but the Tigers still managed to hold out until the 70th minute, when Arsenal finally found a way through. Then it was game over as Hull never had any real goal threat. VAR was once again an absolute joke. Yes, it was a clear shirt pull on Havertz, which they decided to call the referee over to review the footage, only to then notice that Havertz had been miles off-side the entire time so there had been no need to stop the game! These morons need removing from their roles. VAR is a farce.

Starmen:
Timber - was excellent, particularly in the first half when he was popping up everywhere.
Odegaard - scored the goal and was generally very good, even stopping a counter with some strong defending when it looked like Cho would break clear.
Ajayi - excellent performance from the big veteran defender.

Flops:
Tzolis - worked extremely hard but his decision making was awful.
Havertz - far too busy flopping to the ground to play well.
Cho - lots of pace but nothing else, particularly in terms of football IQ.
Stroud - a weak link in the defence, which Arsenal exploited.
Mendy - always seems to make a number of errors whenever I watch him. Can be having an outstanding game other than the silly mistakes, but they are often costly.

Nottingham Forest 3-1 Manchester City

The team in second travelled to face the team second from the bottom of the table and found themselves on the end of a shock, but well deserved defeat. Forest had not won for 5 matches in the Premier League ahead of this game and had not even managed to score a goal at home this season until now. They came out fired up, pressed City high and got a quick two goal lead by harrying City's players all over the pitch. They did struggle to maintain the pace, understandably, and after the first half hour dropped off and concentrated on defending, which allowed City to get control of the ball and finally start attacking Forest with some real intent. While they did manage to get one goal back, a Forest counter killed the game off, but it never really felt like Forest were in danger. It always felt like they could score more if they wanted to, mainly because Maresca's defensive set up is now fully bedded in and City are an absolute mess at the back. There was no protection from midfield, as Anderson was totally overrun in there on his own, with Enzo and Cherki non-existent defensively. That is three losses on the bounce for City and it is not looking good for them, as they look worse every time I see them play.

Starmen:
Cunha - his opening goal was all the centre-back's own work! He pressed high, just over the halfway line winning the ball from Gvardiol, before running almost half the length of the pitch totally unchallenged to slot past Donnarumma. Shocking defending by Man City, but an excellent goal for him.
Forest central midfield - the pairing of Schlager and Yates dominated the midfield until the team dropped off to hold onto their lead.
Delap - he is a very similar player to Lukaku in some regards, big, strong, fast, with a good strike when running onto a ball but struggles to score any other type of goal. Luckily he got a couple of chances like that and buried both with real aplomb. Overall though, he was very good, fighting for everything and using his strength well.

Flops:
McAtee - once again the build up to the match was full of the commentator talking about how wonderful a player this lad is, before he, as usual, put in a performance that totally belied that praise. His touch is heavy, he is soft, his passing is woefully inaccurate and his shots are terrible. I really do not understand how he is keeping a place in this team.
Doku - Forest rarely gave him a moment to do anything.
Fernandez - he was a ghost in midfield, only wants the glory but has no intention of doing the hard work to help out.
Gvardiol - gave away the ball to Cunha to set Forest on the way.
Donnarumma - he is a dodgy keeper. Flaps at crosses and never looks like making anything but a simple save.

Sunday 8th November

Sunderland 1-0 Chelsea

A very tetchy game which once again showed up Chelsea's lack of discipline, which has been an issue for a number of years now. Sunderland also got drawn into it at times, but that was more of an advantage to them, with Chelsea chasing an equaliser. The Mackems have been struggling, with rumbles of discontent from the stands in during the week, but this was a performance more like their ones from last. It did feel like they benefitted from Xhaka being forced to go off early injured, as the Swiss international has been struggling this season and looked fatigued. The extra energy provided by his replacement Ahoka helped a lot. It did take a while for confidence to grow, at the start they were a little diffident, with some players not pressing with the rest, leaving gaps for Chelsea to play through. However, as the game went on Sunderland grew in confidence. Chelsea were far too slow, rolling the ball around with no pace for long periods, which caused no problems for Sunderland and helped them see it through. They do need to find more goals if they are going to survive this season. Chelsea need to hold their discipline and play the ball with more pace.

Starmen:
Roefs - some of his passes were exceptional.
Mukiele - really strong and fast.
Sadiki - showed he has more in his locker than just mobility and work rate.
Brobbey - absolutely bullied Chelsea's centre-halves. If only he could score the goals to go with his power.

Flops:
Talbi - had the beating of Palestra but failed to make anything of it.
Chelsea's front three - offered little, Rogers was particularly poor and lucky that his knee to the head of a Sunderland player on the ground was not seen as a red card offence. It looked like he had plenty of time to avoid him and left his knee in to catch him. He had an awful game and it really felt like his frustration coming out.
Colwill - got badly bullied by Brobbey, he needs to learn to step away a little, rather than getting touch tight to a player that can outmuscle him so completely.
Palestra - looks a good footballer, but defensively he struggled.

Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Brentford

The Seagulls continued their excellent start to the season with another win to move into second in the Premier League table. The big question is whether or not they can continue at this level throughout what will be a long hard season for them. They have fully deserved their position in the table so far, but it is still early and their squad will be tested as the season goes into the Christmas period. The Bees have had a very good start as well, but they have started to drop down the table a bit, which is only to be expected over the course of the season. Losing Thiago, who will have a 3-match ban to serve due to his red card, could well be a huge problem over the next couple of matches. Overall a comfortable win for BHA, who were in charge even before the sending off, their press was giving them control as Brentford struggled to make any headway. It is that press which really stands out, the Brighton team is so incredibly well-drilled in the press that it makes it very difficult for any opponent to play.

Starmen:
Vuskovic - the kind of game a player with his passing range is well suited to.
Chema - his positioning and defensive nous is allowing Gross free rein to go where he wants.
Gross - he is running the games for Brighton and scored the second goal from the spot.
Hurzeler - his tactics made this game a straighforward three points for the South Coast side.

Flops:
Thiago - had no need to react, he had won the free kick but ended up with a needless red card due to throwing his arm into Chema's face.
Schade - could have been the out ball but he does not have the brains to match his pace.
Lewis-Potter - silly, needless foul to give away the penalty.

Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool

A match which showcased all Palace's frailties and shortcomings, while also showing up a few of Liverpool's too. It is understandable that the game led to the sacking of Sage as he was a big part of their problem with his lack of decisiveness. While he was held back by a lack of pace up top, he was making it worse with his selection choices. It was clear the players were not fully understanding what was asked of them, which is no surprise considering they spent the last few years being taught to stay deep, compact and hit on the break. They were never going to be able to suddenly become an attacking side, it was the work of years, but once again Parrish has messed up and then not had the courage of his convictions. Once again the referee decided to give an imbecilic decision, there is not a chance that anyone in any world has ever thought that was a penalty, unless they had both teams to score on their betting coupon.

Starmen:
Alisson - made a few saves as Liverpool's defensive frailties were exposed on occasions.
Mac Allister - nice to see him standing up for his teammate after Lerma left a bit on Munoz as well. Those are the kind of bookings you do not mind your senior players getting. It is good for team spirit for the senior pros to defend the younger ones. Far too often last season, when these kind of things happened the players did not do enough, so it is good to see the spirit is better now.
Isak - looked a lot sharper and made some good, early runs as well. Some of the touches we used to see from him in the past as well. And he scored again.
Wirtz - a goal and an assist as well as being the key to the press, which was much better in this match at times.

Flops:
Referee - Harrington is the only person that could possibly have thought that was a penalty, but it came on the back of a very poor performance where he struggled to keep control of a game with very little fire and intensity in it. How on earth VAR did not overturn his ludicrous decision is beyond me. It was a simple clash of heads with, if anything, the victim being Kerkez.
Sage - looked lost of the sidelines, no surprise he got the push. He failed to do anything to change things, just watched helplessly on as his team folded.
Wharton - offered absolutely nothing apart from one pass and one offside run. He was as useless defensively as offensively. He has regressed enormously in the last couple of years and needs a reset as he is so much better than he is showing.
Strand-Larsen - clumsy and slow, that is the highlights of his game!

Ipswich Town 1-2 Bournemouth

A game with two teams going for the win, both tried to press high and attack but the main difference ended up being a terrible error early on by Ipswich's goalkeeper. Bournemouth looked a bit jaded after being away in Prague on Thursday night, which equalised the quality gap between the two sides. That made for an entertaining game.

Starmen:
Evanilson - the Brazilian forward has added goals to his excellent build up play.
Tavernier - has become a key player for the Cherries and is the unusual position of being an attacking player playing on the same side as his dominant foot so that he can cross the ball.

Flops:
Walton - caught on the ball for the opening goal and continued to dawdle on the ball after that.
Outarra - a poor all round game as well as a mistake costing a goal.
Emersonn - struggled to get into the game.

Manchester United 4-4 Aston Villa

An error-strewn match, which was all the more exciting because of the mistakes. You could not take your eyes off it because both teams were prone to giving the ball away to give the opposition a good chance. Added to that, both goalkeepers had an off day, you would not have fancied either to catch a cold, let alone the ball. Villa twice took a two goal lead, only to surrender it both times, as this game highlighted Villa's weakness in the right-back position, especially with Cash banned. I am not sure what Harwood-Bellis is, but he is not a good right-back, that is for sure. Man Utd looked so far off the pace at times, Emery must have been furious to have thrown away two points at the death. It proved to be the death knell for Carrick's United career, understandably so. He was not helped by the ownership, who are a complete car crash of a bunch, but Carrick was clearly massively out of his depth and is not a top class manager. Or even close to being one.

Starmen:
Cunha - ran Harwood-Bellis ragged.
Fernandes - a goal and an assist for the Portugese midfielder.
Dorgu - rescued the draw with his late, late assist and goal.
Jackson - another to get a goal and an assist.
McGinn - also got a goal and an assist.
Alysson - did not manage to add an assist to his goal but his pace and trickery caused so many problems and won the penalty.

Flops:
Lammens - looks absolutely bereft of confidence.
Dalot - gave away a penalty and was generally poor.
Maguire - had to be taken off at half-time due to injury, spent the first half playing like he was feeling the injury from kick off.
Yoro - no idea what he was doing with the header that led to Villa's fourth goal. It was a simple clearance but he inexplicably headed it at the goal and forced a good save out of Lammens.
Kamara - had a poor game, full of mistakes.
Harwood-Bellis - really struggled at right-back, looked indecisive and far too slow on the turn for that role.
Suzuki - had a mostly excellent season but his error cost a goal.

Written by Tris Burke November 13 2026 06:25:11