Tottenham’s late capitulation against Wolves proved Ange Postecoglou’s project remains a work in progress as Manchester United continue to win despite remaining “wasteful” in front of goal.
Meanwhile, a dark horse continues to keep pace with the Premier League’s frontrunners while a “unique situation” has a Champions League competitor craving a breather.
Foxsports.com.au breaks down the weekend that was in the latest edition of Premier League Talking Points!
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WORRYING MOMENTS THAT PROVE PROJECT ANGE STILL ‘A WORK IN PROGRESS’
Two games ago, Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham side was the toast of the Premier League thanks to a blistering unbeaten start.
Now, Tottenham have lost two games on the bounce as reality starts to set in.
Granted, the loss to Chelsea was a game in which Postecoglou’s side had next to no control as they had 11 men on the field for just 33 minutes.
But against Wolves, there is little excuse for the way in which Tottenham conceded two stoppage-time goals.
Yet the manner in which Wolves scored is a timely reminder about the limitations of the squad.
Postecoglou started with Eric Dier and Ben Davies as a central defensive pairing, two players who would not make the Australian manager’s line-up if everyone was fit.
Danish midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also slotted into central midfield but struggled to make his mark on the contest.
In fact, Hojbjerg was worryingly pivotal in all the worst ways to Wolves’ late double.
Dropping into the backline between Dier and Davies, Hojbjerg checks his right shoulder and sees nothing, but if he had looked over his left shoulder, he would have seen Pablo Sarabia make a run in behind.
Instead, Hojbjerg was blissfully unaware as Sarabia latched onto Matheus Cunha’s lofted pass over the top and delivered a sweet finish past Guglielmo Vicario.
Hojbjerg also under-hit a pass to Giovani Lo Celso, which forced the Argentinian midfielder to foul Mario Lemina.
It was from the resulting free kick that Wolves quickly broke forward and eventually scored, sparking wild scenes at Molineux.
With Hojbjerg and Dier unlikely to remain in north London for much longer, with the former likely to leave in the January window, The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare felt the loss against Wolves provided Postecoglou and Spurs fans with a timely reminder.
“The point here is we’re only one transfer window into Postecoglou’s time at Tottenham and so while the first-choice team may have his stamp on it already, the squad is very much a work in progress,” Eccleshare wrote.
“And on days like Saturday, when he was missing four automatic starters, that becomes painfully apparent.”
Postecoglou’s ideal centre-back pairing of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will not be back together for quite some time given the latter’s hamstring injury.
Time will tell as to whether the Australian can hold on with the likes of Dier and Hojbjerg for much longer.
UTD MAY HAVE ‘TURNED A CORNER’ … BUT ‘WASTEFUL’ RED DEVILS’ BIG ISSUE REMAINS
None of the wins have been pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but Manchester United have now picked up 12 points from a possible 15 in their last five league games.
A narrow 1-0 win over Luton Town at Old Trafford also helped Erik ten Hag become the first Red Devils manager to win 30 of his first 50 league games.
Yes, the four wins have come against Luton, Fulham, Sheffield United and Brentford, a group of teams with an average league position of 16th.
But for United, a team that is seemingly always just one defeat away from a full-blown crisis, stringing together several wins is vital as they sit four points off of Aston Villa who are in fifth.
Yet as crucial as it has been for the Red Devils to secure wins, an alarming stat has emerged: Manchester United’s defenders have scored three times as many as their attackers have in the league.
In fact, United have scored just 13 league goals this season which pales in comparison to the likes of their rivals competing for European spots like Villa (29), Newcastle (27) and Tottenham (24).
Heck, even Nottingham Forest have scored more goals than United this season, with 14.
Ten Hag’s side have been beset by several injuries to key first team members, which makes these narrow wins even more important.
But, as The Telegraph’s James Ducker pointed out, the Dutch manager must find a way to score more goals.
“Given the unrelenting injury crisis that claimed two more victims against Luton in (Rasmus) Hojlund and Christian Eriksen, Erik ten Hag expressed satisfaction a depleted side were still within touching distance of the Champions League places after four wins in the last five games,” Ducker wrote.
“But the United manager will also know they cannot continue to be so wasteful in front of goal if they are to really turn a corner and put a few troubled few months behind them.”
United’s next league fixtures include trips to Everton and Newcastle before a home double against a resurgent Chelsea and Bournemouth.
Will Ten Hag’s strikers find their shooting boots by then?
THE FORTRESS SPARKING DARK HORSE’S RISE
Opposition teams must dread a visit to Villa Park now.
A 3-1 win over Fulham made it a staggering 13-straight league wins at home for Aston Villa — the first time they have done so since 1983 — and kept them within three points of league leaders Manchester City.
In fact, Villa are the strongest team of any Premier League outfit at home having won all six games while scoring 23 goals in the process for an average of 3.8 goals per game.
The team with the next highest amount of goals scored at home is Arsenal, with 18.
Central to Villa’s success in this match was the fluid movement of forward Moussa Diaby as well as midfield duo John McGinn and Youri Tielemans.
Diaby is a winger by trade, but has been playing alongside star striker Ollie Watkins up front and creating havoc for opposition teams.
The French star pops up out wide and drifts in, bamboozling opposition defenders who don’t know whether to go and mark him or to hold their space.
McGinn and Tielemans, who are central midfielders, constantly found themselves in dangerous positions both in the middle and out wide.
Tielemans was the one who played the cross that forced Fulham’s Antonee Robinson to turn the ball into his own net for the opener, while McGinn scored a stunning long-range strike and played a key role in Leon Bailey’s assist for the third goal.
The Times’ Gregor Robertson described McGinn as “outstanding” and “combative yet creative” while also lavishing praise on Tielemans, who made his first league start for Villa.
Robertson said Tielemans “displayed plenty of the craft, guile and industry” that led Emery to bring the Belgian to Villa Park in a performance the fans had waited long to see.
If Villa maintain their home form and improve on their performances away from home, they will no longer be able to fly under the radar as a dark horse in the league.
THE ‘UNIQUE’ SITUATION’ CRIPPLING EURO HOPEFULS
It’s just over a month until Christmas but Newcastle Eddie Howe has already written down his one big wish from Santa: no more injuries.
When Miguel Almiron limped off in the first half of Newcastle’s 2-0 loss to Bournemouth, he joined the other 11 players who were unavailable for the game either through injury or suspension.
For Howe, he described it as “a unique situation” given how many of his instant first-teamers are sidelined.
It’s why a two-week pause from league action couldn’t come at a better time for a battered and bruised Newcastle team.
With the squad ravaged by absences, it seemed almost inevitable a packed schedule including midweek Champions League games would catch up.
Joelinton, who was reinvented from a forward into a midfielder, has been forced to play in a front three while Anthony Gordon, traditionally a winger, had to play as a striker.
Of the players Howe brought off the bench against Bournemouth, none are exactly matchwinners at Premier League level: Emil Krafth and Tino Livramento are defenders while Matt Ritchie’s best days are past him.
Aside from a depleted squad, Howe must also find a way to improve Newcastle’s fortunes on the road given they have just one win from six away games this season: an 8-0 thumping of Sheffield United.
There’s a lot for Howe to ponder in the international break, but first and foremost it is about getting his players back on their feet.
WHAT SACK RACE?
We’re now 12 games into the season but, remarkably, no manager has been given the flick just yet.
It pales in comparison to the absurd sack race we saw in the first half of last season as five managers had been told their services were no longer required.
In fact, since the 2013/14 season, only on three occasions has the first sacking of the season occurred past November 14: Neil Warnock from Crystal Palace (14/15) and Slaven Bilic from West Brom (20/21).
Reports claimed Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was close to being the first to go, despite being hand-picked by new Cherries owner Bill Foley to be the new man in charge.
However, Iraola has won two of his last three games to ease the pressure.
The new favourite is Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag, although he too has overseen some much-needed wins to keep the Red Devils in the hunt for European places.
There’s still a long way to go in the season and once one club decides to swing the axe, it could easily spark others into action and kickstart a managerial frenzy.