Say What?

The first Gameweek of the new Premier League season signals the return of our midweek regular as we bring you pertinent sound-bites from around the top-flight. Jose Mourinho explained his goalkeeper dilemma, while Louis van Gaal, Manuel Pellegrini and Arsene Wenger discussed player integration following some new arrivals and a summer World Cup. Paul Lambert lauded his new-look defence after a well-earned clean sheet at the Britannia, while Alan Pardew and Gus Poyet tip their new midfield additions for successful seasons:

Last year’s leanest defence became something of a lottery over the summer with the arrival of Brazil international left-back Filipe Luís threatening to shake up Chelsea’s established back four, while the return of Thibaut Courtois after three years on loan at Atlético Madrid put Petr Cech’s number one jersey under threat. Fantasy managers were left to gamble as José Mourinho seized the opportunity to play Fantasy pantomime villain, promising a post-deadline decision on his first-choice goalkeeper. Here, he explains the decision:

“Petr is an amazing goalkeeper, but the difference between them is ten years and we think we have to make a decision about the future of the club and to give the goal to Courtois… Courtois is my keeper for this game against Burnley. I don’t make decisions for the season. Obviously goalkeeper is not a position you change match after match. You must keep a bit of stability, but this is about performance. Thibaut has to know that having a goalkeeper of Petr’s level sitting on the bench demands from him high-level performances.”

Having featured mostly in advanced areas for his previous club, Barcelona, Cesc Fábregas announced his return to the Premier League with a majestic display of passing and movement, producing a pair of assists from central midfield. The performance marked Fábregas high on the Fantasy shopping list (more than 130,000 transfers in already) and left Mourinho purring as he blew away any doubts over where the Spaniard is best suited to play:

“When the players are your first choice it is very difficult to make a mistake. Fábregas was our first choice for that position. I know clearly what the player is because we were so long in the same league. He moved to Spain also, so for the last 10 years we have been in the same league for six or seven. I know exactly what he will bring. For Barça he was the fake nine, the number ten and winger but I know and he knows what is his best position so he is giving exactly what we need. Quick thinking in midfield. He brings people in the same direction. I am really happy.”

Manchester United came unstuck in their first Premier League match at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal with a 2-1 defeat to Swansea. The Red Devils were surprisingly lacklustre in attack but news of a possible return for Holland international Robin van Persie could bring about a change in fortunes for van Gaal, who says his fellow countryman is now nearing fitness after an extended summer break following the World Cup. At £12.5m in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and with less than 3% ownership, the Dutchman could prove an exceptional differential if he is to hit the ground running – United face only one of last year’s top eight in their next seven fixtures, including the three promoted clubs back-to-back in Gameweeks 3-5.

“I could not use [Marouane] Fellaini or [Adnan] Januzaj from the first minute today because they came later from the World Cup. Van Persie was a week later than these guys. So I think always you have to be fit. But we have been training with Robin for three weeks. So the point that he can come in to the selection is close now.”

Arsene Wenger admitted that his marquee signing Alexis Sanchez is not yet in sync with his team-mates after Arsenal’s narrow victory over Crystal Palace at the weekend. The Chilean created five opportunities for his colleagues (bettered only by Joey Barton’s six) and was heavily involved in attacking play, with only Aaron Ramsey seeing more of the ball in opposition territory, but clearly Wenger feels there is much more to come:

“I am very happy with his attitude because he kept on fighting for 90 minutes, even if he is not completely ready physically. Tactically he needs to improve his understanding with his partners but he looked lively and dangerous until the end. I’m happy with his overall attitude and performance.”

Manuel Pellegrini dared to share his thoughts on team selection ahead of next Monday’s heavyweight encounter with Liverpool. The Manchester City boss gave Sergio Agüero his first taste of Premier League action this season off the bench against Newcastle as a late replacement for Eden Dzeko and the Argentine wasted little time in reminding us of his pedigree, notching a goal in the closing moments of the win at St. James’ Park. Pellegrini, though, will continue to monitor the fitness of his World Cup stars a little longer before making any decision on his first-team:

“Of course, it will be very important for us to have one week more. Maybe we also have to give minutes to other players and we will see during the week which 11 starters we are going to play against Liverpool. We have a lot of players for whom one week more will be very useful.”

Only relegated Fulham, Cardiff and Norwich conceded more goals than Aston Villa last season, so the clean sheet victory recorded in their opener at Stoke City was especially well received by manager Paul Lambert. The Villains boss chose to make a number of changes to his back-four that saw only captain Ron Vlaar retain a starting berth, with new signings Philippe Senderos and Aly Cissokho, and former outcast Alan Hutton coming in for high praise from the gaffer. Vlaar’s World Cup heroics saw him register the third highest ownership of all defenders in the FPL game, while Hutton’s 4.0 price tag became popular among pre-season RMTs as a budget friendly option – owners will be hoping for continued returns as Villa seek to capitalise on back-to-back home clashes against Newcastle and Hull before the fixtures take a turn for the worse.

“We were resolute defensively. The back four were great. Aly Cissokho has been thrown in at the deep end but he was outstanding. For his debut, he was fantastic. Ron Vlaar has only played 45 minutes since the World Cup. Alan Hutton and Philippe Senderos were fantastic. The whole back four – Hutton, Vlaar, Senderos and Cissokho – along with Guzan were outstanding. They weren’t bullied and stood up to everything. It was an outstanding team display. That was a big, big performance.”

Forgotten man Jack Rodwell’s return to action in a Sunderland jersey drew encouragement from his new manager, Gus Poyet. Everton’s former rising star lost his way at Manchester City amongst a wealth of resources but a summer move to Wearside could see him rejuvenated as a key player in the Black Cats’ central midfield. Rodwell was given less than 70 minutes on his debut as he set about building match fitness, and with a price tag of just 5.0 (FPL), could emerge as a Fantasy force by Gameweek 5, when Sunderland face a favourable run of fixtures.

“He started well and then we killed him for 20 minutes without the ball. We made him only defend, which of course is going to help us, but we need to give him the ball. In the second half I was very pleased – (it was) the Jack Rodwell we want to see, driving with the ball, getting to the edge of the box, winning (the ball), turning, passing. I was tempted to leave him on the pitch for a bit longer but I think it was enough and I think he will get better and better.”

Alan Pardew will have taken plenty of positives from Newcastle’s opening defeat at home to Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday. In particular, new signing Remy Cabella looked very comfortable adjusting to life in the England on his debut, producing three efforts on goal and matching the likes of Cesc Fábregas and Juan Mata for chances created (three). The Magpies now face the mouthwatering prospect of facing only two of last season’s top seven sides (Spurs and Liverpool) in their next 13 fixtures, and with less than 2.5% ownership, Cabella could be a bandwagon waiting to happen if he produces something at Villa Park next weekend.

“Both Jack Colback and Cabella have settled in nicely, but you can see Remy is going to create a lot for us. He showed some great flashes of class today and he’ll get better the more he gets used to the Premier League. If he can become for Newcastle what Nasri or Silva are for Manchester City, he’s going to create a lot of goals for us.”

With Seamus Coleman absent through injury, Everton created all six of their chances from the left flank at Leicester on Saturday, with Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar combining to devastating effect. In fact, such was their dominance of play, 88% of the Toffees’ crosses came from that side, and Baines followed the fruitful performance with a glowing review of his relationship with the South African winger.

“I always enjoy playing with Steven – I think anyone would. He’s always where you need him to be at the moment you need him to be there. You can always trust him in any situation, I think he plays on instinct and you can always feel like you know what he’s going to do next. It’s always easier when you have got that relationship with someone, but we have got a squad where it will change each game this season. We will all come in and out at different times in a lot of games.”

After conceding in Sunday’s narrow home win over Southampton, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel reckons the club’s attacking philosophy is partly to blame. Brendan Rodgers’ side racked up 101 goals last season but suffered from a lack of balance and shipped more or less half that total – as the Reds prepare for back-to-back trips to City and Spurs, the Slovakian has called upon his team-mates to step up their defensive contributions:

“Obviously it hurt but it’s not only about the back-four, it’s about the team and defending as a group. Because we conceded 50 goals, some people blamed the back-four, but it isn’t just about the back-line, it is about defending as a team and that’s the big thing that we need to improve. If we do that we will stop people from talking about the defence. If we can do that and also cut out some of the individual mistakes it will make a big difference. We are a team that likes to attack and a lot of players like to get forward so that is maybe something that we need to work on because not everyone can go forward, sometimes you have to defend too. We’ll see anyway, we will work on it and try to improve it. As players we are not happy with that record but we know the direction we were going in as a team last season and we will try to improve on that in the new one.”