The 2023/2024 season is now almost 1/3 of the way through, and we are still probably just too early to make any long-term predictions. Despite this, we will allow fans of certain clubs to get carried away as that’s part of the fun football brings. On the flip side, if you’re side is currently struggling, don’t panic just yet as there’s plenty of time to hit form and save your season (unless you’re Manchester United of course).

Each week we will be producing a round up of the Premier League (and other leagues where we find it) action, picking out 3 big talking points to dissect and analyse following the round of fixtures. This week’s talking points come from the premium fixture on Saturday night between Newcastle United vs Arsenal, where unfortunately VAR took the headlines yet again (Arteta made sure of that), Manchester United’s late winner which may turn their season around, and Jeremy Doku making a mockery of Bournemouth.

Let us know over on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) if you have seen anything in a game that you think we should be talking about, or have anything to share from what you’ve seen at a game that week. Any funny stories, tactical analysis or general comments will be featured.

Love To Hate VAR

“I don’t know, it’s something that we don’t have a say on, we don’t manage. I think they are trying to make the best decisions, they are trying to protect the game, they are trying to get as much support and be ruthless when they need to be. At some point as well we need to give support and understand that mistakes happen. We’ve made mistakes as well and if the pressure is so much then it’s very difficult to manage.” (Mikel Arteta on Liverpool’s VAR controversy at Tottenham)

“We did not deserve to lose the match, we lose the match for the clear and obvious decisions, it is embarrassing. It is a disgrace, that is what it is, a disgrace. This cannot continue, it is embarrassing, it is not acceptable, there is too much at stake. I have been in this country for more than 20 years, and this is nowhere near the level to describe this as the best league in the world. I feel sick to be part of this, sick.” (Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s VAR controversy at Newcastle)

We all know that this season especially VAR doesn’t seem to be working. With weekly apologies from Howard Webb, demotions for referees to the Championship and questions regarding refereeing standards and the rules themselves, all culminating in lost points for the likes of Liverpool, Wolves and now arguably Arsenal, things need to change. What isn’t going to help however, is taking the spotlight away from a mediocre team performance and instead blaming VAR, blaming referees and ranting to the media even with the bizarre (and a little embarrassing) full backing of your club… or is it?

The Saturday evening game between Newcastle vs Arsenal is going down as another game which dominates the headlines purely for the discussions surrounding refereeing, VAR interventions and some controversial moments. The game itself was a bit of a let-down from both sides, as despite this being two in-form and impressive Premier League teams meeting at the premium time slot on Saturday night, Newcastle put in one of their resolute performances, Arsenal were lacking and the only difference in the game to claim the win was a controversial moment.

It’s understandable that this will make headlines as the amount of football media (ourselves included) love controversy and moments, and arguably the football itself was below what many hoped for. For Newcastle, they will defend their team and therefore the decisions that went in their favour, while Arsenal will be fuming at losing a game in this manner. With 2 very vocal fanbases online, one manager making several comments post-game, a club statement in support of the manager, media outlets have been licking their lips and breaking down every frame and every word from this as they feed the hungry for content footballing public.

The main decision in the game was of course the Newcastle goal, checked for 3 separate infringements which VAR couldn’t do much to conclude on. The ball appeared out of play before being crossed by Willock, there looked to be a foul on the Arsenal centre back Gabriel and a potential offside for goal scorer Gordon. VAR deemed the foul to be not enough to rule the goal out, the angles weren’t available to be 100% sure the ball went out of play and also issues with checking for offside.

There were also huge questions raised over Kai Havertz staying on the pitch, with his reckless foul being given as a yellow, and resulted in even 3 yellow cards for Newcastle in the aftermath. Likewise Guimaraes was lucky to not be spotted for a clearly deliberate elbow to the head of Jorghino.

I think with the goal if you break each incident down separately, while unfortunate for Arsenal, none of those things were conclusive either way so you have to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking side. Had any of those decisions rules out the goal, Newcastle would have felt equally as aggrieved, and so from a very much neutral perspective, you have to just take this as an unfortunate incident but even with the right angles and decisions, it may well have still gone against them. On the goal incidents, we have to be very careful that just because it was checked for 3 infringements, that doesn’t mean it should have been ruled out. Each incident has to be viewed on it’s own merit, not just a cumulation of things.

The other feeling I have with the goal incident is that we again need clear precedents for certain things that happen. I know you can’t have protocols for every outcome of a football match, but we should have a rule that inconclusive decisions go in favour of either the attacking/defending side as we see in other sports, notably cricket where the on-field decision is given if uncertain. That itself would raise questions as we often see referees unwilling to give decisions knowing VAR will likely check it for them. But if it’s made clear anything not 100% certain will either be given as the on-field decision, or in favour of an attacker/defender, it would clear this ‘bias’ talk up much more.

Aside from inadequacies with the rules themselves, fans also have to be careful of their argument on this instance. Most fans are turning against the involvement of VAR, as it takes away moments, goals and isn’t fool proof. But Arsenal fans on this occasion are asking for more intervention on decisions, more technology to check for decisions, and that itself shows fans contradiction that we need to be sure on. I think you can have both an increase of technology for a ball being out of play, automated offsides and yet still reduce VAR’s influence on the game, but if you complain about it taking away goals, moments and being too prevalent in the game, you then can’t complain at a goal that couldn’t be proved as infringing on any rules.

We highlighted the hypocrisy of football with those quotes from Arteta, where we mainly detest things when it goes against us, but when it doesn’t affect the team you support it doesn’t quite matter so much. The rules of football are broken, VAR is not up to standard and quite frankly I never want to hear of apologies from Howard Webb ever again, but it’s not going to be fixed quickly, easily or even willingly. It’s ruining the game we love, but it’s what we have, and ultimately it’s tough for Arsenal on this occasion, but don’t allow it to completely overshadow a very underwhelming performance for the 64 minutes prior to the goal either.

21 Is Coming

Okay maybe not this season, but Manchester United did get a result against a fairly poor Fulham outfit who, despite having a strong 20 minute spell in the second half, were the perfect opponent for Manchester United to take on after their tough week on the pitch, and the outcry off-field.

Manchester United travelling to Fulham after the last week is perfect for Ten Hag, as being away from home will ease any fan pressure that surely would have come from that performance and starting down the barrel of a 0-0 draw with mid-table opposition. Further, Fulham’s Craven Cottage is known as a fairly tame place to travel to as the atmosphere can’t really be described as hostile for bigger teams coming to visit. Fulham this season have played some good football at times this season, but the loss of Mitrovic has hit their scoring threat massively, and United in the early kick-off on Saturday could just about get away with a mediocre performance as long as the result went their way, exactly as it happened.

Despite having an early goal ruled out for a contentious offside call on Harry Maguire, who was deemed to be involved in the play despite not touching the ball, United were lacklustre in front of goal and despite controlling most of the first half, they couldn’t take advantage of Fulham’s passive opposition and struggled to overcome the regular issue of goal scoring that has been prevalent all season.

In the second half, Fulham seemed to realise that United were in a state of disarray and came out fighting at points, bringing Onana to make some important saves. United had the same issues in the midfield as they looked so open when Fulham forced a turnover in possession, leaving the attacking midfield trio of Eriksen, McTominay, Fernandes far too high, and Maguire and Evans were stretched at the back, especially with the full backs also wanting to get forward. Ten Hag’s side held out against the improved Fulham attack, and when Antony was replaced by Pellistri, the young wide players of Garnacho and Pellistri really pushed United’s attack forward, and just a few seconds into injury time, a pinball in Fulham’s box sent the ball to Bruno Fernandes, who dummied two Fulham defenders out of the way before tucking away his shot despite Leno getting a hand to it, and Manchester United took all 3 points as their impressive travelling support went wild with a sense of relief, joy and still plenty of frustration.

The result is all that matters for Ten Hag, the players and certainly the fans, however questions still remain in the squad on-field and off-field. With goals drying up, Hojlund lacking in service, Antony seriously underperforming, midfield imbalance, potential issues at full back due to injury/selection, reliance of Evans-Maguire, Rashford’s form/injury/selection, Varane on the bench and much more, Ten Hag will just be happy to enjoy his weekend with a win, and all eyes turn to the away trip to Copenhagen midweek in a crucial ‘must win’ Champions League encounter.

For more on the Fulham vs Manchester United game, do check out our blog post (available early Wednesday morning) where we broke down the game in much more detail.

Four Jeremy… FOUR… That’s Insane

Of course Manchester City are a winning machine, and Bournemouth are seriously struggling to cement themselves in the top flight for this season, but our player of the week has to be Jeremy Doku. With 1 goal and 4 assists, he became both the youngest player to have 5 goal involvements in a single game, and also the youngest player to have 4 assists in a match in the Premier League.

While some saw the signing as unusual for City to make with an already stacked front line, the move looks to be a bargain at just over £50million for the 21 year old. In his short City career, he has managed 2 goals and 5 assists (3 goals 6 assists including Champions League) in the league from only 10 appearances. In terms of settling into a new league, a big team and at such a young age, he appears to be another gem that City have highlighted, and their desire to improve and build a squad rather than just a starting XI, you can see them dominating for a long time to come.

With Tottenham playing later tonight at time of writing, City now move into the top spot where many will expect them to remain. As Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa all dropped points, and Tottenham will have a tough challenge this evening, it goes to show how relentless the threat of City is and just 1 poor result even at this early stage can knock any title charge hopes. I think if Spurs can pick up a win tonight, we may still have something potentially happening at the top, but even 11 games in, I think if City maintain even a 1 point lead over 2nd, they will be certainly expected to stick it out and secure yet another title.

For Bournemouth however, they need to dust themselves down quickly, and look to sort out their form and performances heading into the winter period. They sit just inside the relegation zones, as Luton’s point against Liverpool leapfrogged Bournemouth and put them into 18th. The relegation battle could become interesting as the season progresses, with most predicting the same 3 who came up to return to the Championship. Burnley were perhaps the only side many thought would be able to prevent this, however with their brand of football not quite working the same in the top-flight, Luton picking up more points than anyone expected at an early stage, and Everton, Fulham and Wolves potentially getting drawn in, it may not be as simple as many expected.

Matchday 11 Player of the Week: Jeremy Doku We have just gone into detail with this one, but specifically earning the player of the week for matchday 11, Doku managed his aforementioned 1 goal and 4 (yes 4) assists, while also maintaining 95% pass accuracy, 100% dribble success, 100% long ball accuracy, 100% tackles won and also winning 7 duels. For the likes of Grealish and Foden this could be a worrying sign, but for City they have a superstar in the making with Jeremy Doku.

Matchday 11 Game of the Week: Sheffield United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers This week has been quite tough to pick a game of the week, as we’ve had City dominating Bournemouth, Everton and Brighton playing out an interesting draw, Manchester United potentially turning a corner, the big headline grabber between Newcastle and Arsenal, Brentford’s win over West Ham, Forest beating an in-form Aston Villa, Luton grabbing a point against Liverpool and still an exciting game to come on Monday (written Monday morning) between Spurs and Chelsea.

The game we’ve gone for is perhaps a bit of a surprise, as Sheffield United picked up their first win of the season with a 90+10′ penalty from Oliver Norwood. Having only 1 point from their first 10 games, Sheffield United went into this knowing their home advantage may be enough to get their first win over a decent but beatable Wolves side. Wolves also went in feeling confident of taking 3 points to compound United’s misery, however after a fairly balanced 70 minutes, Sheffield United took the lead in the 72nd with Archer opening the scoring. Wolves managed to claw their way back into the game in the second half and equalised with Bellegarde looking like he’d snatched a point for Wolves, until yet another controversial penalty call going against Wolves as Sheffield United were able to take the 3 points with the last moment of the game. In another controversial decision against Wolves costing them some big points, it’s understandable that they must feel aggrieved at the decisions they are facing, and they are right to lead questions into the refereeing they’ve received. To still be in 14th is remarkable and a testament to Gary O’Neil’s side to keep picking up points despite the decisions they’ve faced. We are in for an interesting relegation battle and I think it’s going to be a real highlight of the season to watch how the bottom half unfolds throughout the season.

Let us know over on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) what you made of the eleventh round of fixtures, and what you’re looking forward to in the next game week.