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City's billion dollar bust, Pogba's sublime assists and Gunners striker drama: PL Talking Points

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16th August, 2021
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“It’s cool … Football is back!” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp nailed the mood perfectly after the Premier League returned in front of raucous full houses on the weekend. Here are the gameweek one talking points.

Billion dollar bust

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola put out the most expensive team in British football history, including new boy Jack Grealish, at Tottenham and suffered an opening day defeat which exposed why he wants Spurs’ striker Harry Kane.

Kane wasn’t at the game, left out as speculation rages over his future, and Tottenham fans sang ‘Are you watching Harry Kane,” as his lethal partner from last season, Son Hueng-min scored the only goal of the game.

The Kane questioned loomed large over the game, as did the debut of Grealish.

Guardiola, who has lost more games at Spurs than anywhere else on the road, was effusive in his praise for Grealish.

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“He is so dangerous close to the box, when we have the ball, he always has an extra pass,” Guardiola told a post-match news conference when asked about Grealish’s display.

“He had an incredible debut and will be so important for us. I congratulate him for having the personality to try and try until the end.”

City had 18 attempts but were unable to find a way through, their lack of goals likely to heighten talk around a renewed push to sign Kane or an alternative before the transfer deadline.

Noise and excitement lifts the level

“It’s great to see the fans back and I hope that Norwich celebrated as well because they had an exceptional season,” said Jurgen Klopp after his team swept aside the newly promoted Canaries.

“The occasion was great. It was exactly what we expected and what we’d missed for so long.

“I applauded the Norwich fans as well because it’s so nice to have fans back, wherever they come from. I could see in the eyes of the players they had to get used to it again. Everybody has to get used to the atmosphere.”

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The fans made the most of their return post-Covid. There was a moving round of applause at Old Trafford to mark the 130,000 lives lost to the pandemic, before a heaving crowd, without a face mask in sight, revelled in Man United’s 5-1 thrashing of Leeds.

Newcastle fans raised the roof to welcome Joe Willock before their thrilling loss to West Ham, while Brentford fans were in full voice as they celebrated their first ever appearance in the Premier League witha 2-0 win over dismal Arsenal.

Mo Salah owns opening day

Liverpool’s Mo Salah just loves opening day. His beautifully taken goal in Liverpool’s 3-0 win was the fifth year in succession that he’s got on the scoresheet on the first day of the PL season.

After joining Liverpool from Roma in 2017, Salah scored in his first game for the Reds against Watford. A year later he scored against West Ham, scored against Norwich in 2019, banged in hat-trick against Leeds last season.

His goal had Michael Owen and Tim Sherwood swooning.

“Just watch the backspin on it, he kills it dead but he almost pushes it away and the ball naturally pulls back towards him so he can hit it,” Owen said on Matchday Live on Optus Sport.

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“To drag the ball from your right foot, almost send your left foot across your body, to then pull it across onto your left foot… it shows how one-footed he is, I guess. But his touch, I’ve seen him do it a few times now where you think ‘wow, how have you done that?!”, you’re dragging it from an impossible position and as he moves it across, you think its going away and it just checks back into his zone to finish it off. Brilliant.”

Tim Sherwood called it “Messi-esque.”

“That touch is unbelievable. He knows that is spinning back to him, and once he’s got it there, he is going to hit the target. It is all about the touch. Magnificent.”

There was more good news for the Reds with the return of captain Virgil van Dijk to the centre of Liverpool’s defence.

Van Dijk completed a full 90 minutes and Sherwood said he eased his way back in.

“He’s a Rolls Royce,” Sherwood said. “When you’ve got a Rolls Royce in the garage and you bring it out, you don’t put your foot down straight away. He had the lowest average speed of any player on that pitch today (5.8km/h), he totally cruised that football match. He could. He was doing other stuff.”

Pogba off to a flyer. Will he stay?

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Paul Pogba had three assists all last season. On Saturday night he had four in one game against Leeds in Manchester United’s 5-1 rout. Pogba’s second spell at United has been blighted by inconsistency and a desire to move away.

With the transfer still open for a couple of weeks, you can’t be 100 percent sure Pogba will remain this season but he looked happy as well as at his very best form against Leeds, playing some passes that beggared belief.

Jadon Sancho was on the bench and United, with Bruno Fernandes off the mark with a hat-trick, were irresistable even without Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial or new signing Raphael Varane on the pitch. Even the man Varane will replace in the lineup Victor Lindelof, played a stunning assist for Mason Greenwood to score.

“They had 11-12 players (last season), if fit, they had a really good team capable of challenging,” United legend Paul Scholes said on Optus Sport’s coverage.

“Now they’ve got 16, 17 possibly 18 players capable of playing in the first XI.”

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Scholes believes Pogba will want to stay considering the talent in the squad this season.

“I think he will stay,” Scholes said. “A couple of years ago, playing in a team not functioning as well, with the attacking players he’s got, his ability – if this team carries on in this manner, progressing like it is, it is a team that can go on and win trophies and that’s what he wants to do.”

Tim Sherwood, though, believes United are still missing a front line striker and should move for Harry Kane, linked with Man City.

“I still think they need a centre-forward, I really do,” said Sherwood.

“Jadon Sancho has come off the bench today, they’ve got a lot of really good players in a lot of areas but Cavani is their best number nine. A player who is ageing like that, they are desperate for a Harry Kane.

“If they have Harry Kane, for me they are up there with Man City and Chelsea to win the Premier League. Without a number nine, they can’t win the league.”

Chelsea’s emotional debut goal
There was a beautiful moment of sheer emotion in Chelsea’s routine win over Crystal Palace, as Trevoh Chalobah became, at 22 years and 40 days, Chelsea’s second youngest player to score on his debut after Paul Hughes.

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The centre-back has been at the club since he was eight, and was in tears after his cracking goal.

“He produced two fantastic performances and played almost every minute in pre-season,” said manager Thomas Tuchel.

“He is a humble guy from the academy and was so, so good today.

“He plays with so much confidence and has so many good behaviours on the pitch. It was a pretty perfect afternoon for him.

“You saw how they celebrated with him and these are the stories we love about football.

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“In this game, in an exciting league with players from abroad, there is still place for homegrown talent at our club and other big clubs.”

“It is a dream for a boy like me being here and to play for my home club is unreal,” Chalobah said. “As I was getting closer to the goal I thought I might as well shoot.

“I didn’t know the ball went in. I didn’t know what to do. I was over the moon. I just dropped to my knees. I was crying. An amazing moment for myself and my family.”

Chelsea’s next assignment is against Arsenal, a club seemingly already reeling into crisis after its loss to Brentford on opening day.

Gunners strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were absent and listed as unwell, which did nothing to quell specualtion that they have fallen out with manager Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal are likley to face Chelsea’s returning star Romelu Lukaku this weekend, with Tuchel hoping the former Manchester United and Inter Milan marksman can help bring the best out of Timo Werner.

“I think the arrival of Romelu will help Timo a lot,” Tuchel told Sky Sports. “He takes responsibility and will take some off Timo, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic.

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“It gives us more variations. We can play with two strikers or go with a front three. The arrival of Romelu is good news for Timo.”

Asked if Lukaku will be ready to face Arsenal, Tuchel said: “He escapes isolation on Monday, has a full week to prepare and should be on the pitch.”

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