Saturday Premier League takeaways: David Moyes finds his best team, Tim Sherwood does the opposite
Manchester United finally found a team that works for them, Tottenham Hotspur picked the worst team ever and Everton vs. Arsenal should have been a bit more fun.
Tim Sherwood has absolutely lost his marbles. Or maybe he's perpetually in a state of being marbleless and he's just masked it for a while? Also, Fulham are very bad and Everton vs. Arsenal wasn't quite as fun as it should have been. But first up, David Moyes and Manchester United.
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Manchester United have found their best team
David Moyes probably won't stick with it because he's David Moyes, but it's pretty clear that the lineup Manchester United played against West Bromwich Albion is the best they're able to field. It featured none of the bad things Moyes has done this season and all of the good.
While Phil Jones still has some work to do before he becomes a great central defender, he's already better than Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are at this point in their careers. He also looked good next to Chris Smalling, who should play right central defender and nothing else, ever. And without Tom Cleverley to clean up after or Jones to make the passing out of midfield predictable, Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick looked solid. And with a sensible team to his left all the way up and down the pitch, Rafael was great.
The attacking band of three of Adnan Januzaj, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata also made for the best set of players United can use in those positions, and in the right spots too. And once this group softened up West Brom, Danny Welbeck made for an excellent impact sub.
This is your team, Moyes. Don’t screw it up.
It sucks when games are altered by dudes falling
Everton were seriously holding their own against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium early in their FA Cup game. It wouldn’t be extreme to say they had the better of the play in the opening minutes. Then James McCarthy slipped in midfield and it led to an Arsenal goal.
That didn’t ruin the game -- Everton fought back and kept it interesting for a while -- but it would have been an even better game for neutrals if it stayed 0-0 for a while, or perhaps if Everton scored first. Arsenal made a halftime adjustment in midfield to sit a tad deeper in possession and get back quickly after losing the ball, making it tough for Everton to counter. They might not make that adjustment if they don’t score in the first half.
Having said that, Arsenal were very good and their win wasn’t just about McCarthy’s slip. It was well-earned and they were the much better team in the second half, but it sure would have been fun to watch a slightly different match.
Clive Mason/Getty Images
Fulham really stink and are now all but down
There's no coming back from a loss to Cardiff City. Fulham will not be recovering. They will not come particularly close to challenging the teams above them. They fired Martin Jol too late, they replaced him with an inexperienced manager and they replaced that guy with a manager who has a reputation for being a psycho. They started a 19-year-old who most recently played in League Two on Saturday. They still have to play Sascha Riether and Maarten Stekelenburg.
It’s over. I’m sorry, Fulham.
Don't ever watch [possession-focused side] vs. [Tony Pulis side]
It's going to suck, okay? It always sucks. Southampton and Crystal Palace didn't do anything before or after their game's only goal because of course they didn't. Haven't you seen enough Pulis Team vs. Possession-Focused Team games by now?
Crappy 1-1 draws will keep you up
There's nothing particularly endearing or offensive about Norwich City or Stoke City, who will both finish on about 38 points and stay in the Premier League. Their game looked a lot like a game between those types of teams. There was a set piece goal, a penalty that drew the other team level, a red card and the team with 11 men not really looking able to do anything about their man advantage.
These teams exist. Congratulations to Stoke and Norwich for existing.
Maybe he picked a different formation, but that's certainly where they decided to play
Have fun in the Championship, Tim Sherwood
Any chance Tim Sherwood had to keep his job for next season probably went down the drain when Tottenham Hotspur lost 4-0 to Chelsea. Losing away to Chelsea isn't embarrassing in and of itself, but his team selection and the way Spurs fell apart at the end certainly was.
Incredibly, Sherwood picked Kyle Walker as a central attacking midfielder, Emmanuel Adebayor as a right winger and Aaron Lennon as a center forward. Or maybe he picked a different formation, but that's certainly where they decided to play. Through some miracle, they got through the first half without conceding, even though Hugo Lloris could have been sent off twice in the opening five minutes for fouls on Samuel Eto'o and Eden Hazard; the first was nullified because of an incorrect offside call, the second wasn't spotted.
Then, the second half collapse. Chelsea scored their first on an error by Jan Vertonghen, their second on a penalty after Younes Kaboul got nailed for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity and the last two in the dying minutes as Spurs totally lost their focus and Demba Ba took advantage twice.
After the game, Sherwood openly criticized his players, though not by name.
Sherwood on #Spurs players "There are some I'd count on and some I wouldn't"....."they are too nice to each other and need to show more gut"
— Sarah-Jane Mee (@skysarahjane) March 8, 2014 That’s just not something that should come out of a coach’s mouth. Hopefully Sherwood can get a job with a Championship club for next season.
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