Chelsea s defensive woes and handball disputes
Talking points from Saturday’s English Premier League matches that produced a fair amount of drama.
Lampard must solve defensive puzzle: Chelsea travelled to West Bromwich Albion expecting three points to keep up with the Premier League pacesetters but found themselves three goals down after an early defensive collapse.
Chelsea fought back to grab a 3-3 draw but all three of West Brom’s goals resulted from glaring defensive errors and, with their new Brazil defender Thiago Silva at fault for the second goal on his league debut, manager Frank Lampard will have plenty on his mind.
Marcos Alonso and Silva were guilty of being careless on the ball and Kyle Bartley was left unmarked to score, suggesting there are issues of concentration that need to be dealt with.
Chelsea’s attacking talents appear to be gelling but unless they get to grips with their defensive frailties, the Blues could quickly find themselves among the league’s also-rans.
Solskjaer sticks with Pogba despite slow post-Covid-19 recovery: Paul Pogba spent much of Manchester United’s short preseason recovering from coronavirus so it was surprising to see him in the starting line-up against Brighton after struggling in last week’s 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.
The France midfielder once again looked woefully off the pace, failing to break up Brighton ’ s play or do much to help the attack, with teammate Bruno Fernandes doing all the heavy lifting.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to stick with Pogba was all the more baffling given that United have a fit Donny van de Beek who is keen to impress and gave the team more energy and purpose when he did replace Pogba in the dramatic 3-2 win.
The manager admitted Pogba was still far from 100%, saying the minutes he got will help him regain full fitness, but right now the Norwegian’s willingness to get the player up to speed appears to be at the expense of his team’s fluidity.
Handball law changing the game: There was more controversy surrounding the interpretation of the handball law in two of Saturday’s games, with both decisions deciding the outcomes. Everton were awarded a penalty, which secured a 2-1 away victory, after the ball struck Crystal Palace defender Joel Ward, who appeared to be pulling his arm away from the ball’s flight.
Brighton lost after a stoppage-time penalty given to Manchester United when Neal Maupay was also ruled to have handled, a less controversial call under the current interpretation of the law but one which probably would not have been given had the emphasis on intent remained in place.
Palace manager Roy Hodgson is not the only one in the game wondering if the legislators at soccer’s rule-making International Football Association Board are creating more problems than they are solving.
“I predict what will happen is players will start flicking the ball on to a hand and screaming ‘ handball ’,” he said. “I think the rule is nonsense … It is ruining the game of football.”