Guardian sport 

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

José Mourinho needs to make drastic changes, Rafael Benítez is getting the best out of his players and Jordan Ayew is on a mission
  
  

Clockwise from left: Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Huddersfield celebrate and Jürgen Klopp.
Clockwise from left: Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Huddersfield celebrate and Jürgen Klopp. Composite: PA, EPA, BPI/Rex/Shutterstock, Getty Images

1) United improvements need to begin with Pogba and Sánchez

Having so meekly allowed Manchester City to claim the Premier League title, a process of rebuilding Manchester United into future champions starts now. The non-inclusion of Marouane Fellaini, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw in José Mourinho’s match‑day 18 for this game at Old Trafford indicated where a long-awaited clear-out of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal recruits is likely to begin. But it will take more than that to revitalise United. The shapeless sludge of this performance against West Brom was no anomaly. Chief among the reasons United have been left in City’s wake is Mourinho’s inability to get the best from his purported stars. Paul Pogba lasted less than an hour before being substituted, while Alexis Sánchez waits to reveal anything like the form of his best days at Arsenal. John Brewin

• Match report: Manchester United 0-1 West Bromwich Albion
‘I know how to win – but I don’t play,’ says Mourinho

2) Guardiola still needs to recruit to claim Champions League

Manchester United’s surprise defeat by West Brom handed Pep Guardiola’s side the title after a topsy-turvy fortnight that defied all predictions. The question now is whether Manchester City can follow up their achievements next season by winning the prize that the club covets more than any other. Despite Guardiola’s insistence that winning the Premier League was more of an achievement, the failure to add to the two Champions League titles he won at Barcelona is what he will ultimately be judged on. Recruiting another central midfielder to ease the burden on Fernandinho will be a major priority this summer, as will providing extra ammunition to the forward line given Sergio Agüero’s troubles with injury. Ed Aarons

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3) Leicester left with regret over Shakespeare and Mahrez

Leaving themselves with too much to recover has been the story of the season for Leicester City. Defeat at Burnley, who scored their goals in the sixth and ninth minutes, left Claude Puel’s side nine points off seventh place, thus highly unlikely to be playing in the Europa League next season. The club’s owners continue to count the cost of a misplaced faith in Craig Shakespeare’s credentials to be a permanent manager rather than caretaker or assistant. Puel’s appointment in October after just two victories in nine games proved a far more adept decision but Leicester’s record of having now lost more games (12) than their 11 wins indicates a squad still failing to live up to its potential. And this is likely to be the last season Riyad Mahrez is around at the King Power Stadium. John Brewin

• Match report: Burnley 2-1 Leicester City

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4) Loftus-Cheek presses claim for England World Cup squad

The focus was drawn inexorably towards Wilfried Zaha, whose switch to Ivory Coast will always have the England setup cursing. Yet another in Crystal Palace ranks excelled in the M23 derby on Saturday to suggest he could yet have a role to play in Russia. This was Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s best performance at senior club level, the Chelsea loanee driving the hosts forward in a dominant opening period. After more than three months out with ankle trouble, the 22-year-old has swiftly recaptured form. “He has qualities,” said Roy Hodgson. “He was very good at screening, keeping the ball. He’s very good at beating players. His workrate has been very good. If he can play regularly for the last part of the season, then we will see him doing more and more as a player.” A place in the World Cup squad is far from outlandish. Dominic Fifield

• Match report: Crystal Palace 3-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos

5) Huddersfield prove that top-flight experience is overrated

Huddersfield defied the odds to reach the Premier League and are on the verge of an even more improbable achievement this season. They will probably avoid relegation from the top flight – beating Everton at home next weekend would practically confirm that – and if they do they will have debunked the notion a team can only survive if they have a core of wily Premier League veterans. Only three of the 24 players used by David Wagner this season had Premier League experience and two of those barely featured this season (Dean Whitehead has played 65 minutes, while Martin Cranie made three appearances before being sold in January). Huddersfield’s players do have experience of keeping cool in high-stakes duels, thanks to their play-off triumph last year, and the benefit of playing for one of England’s best‑run clubs. Paul Doyle

• Match report: Huddersfield Town 1-0 Watford

6) Klopp wants numbers to add up to silverware

Mohamed Salah’s 30th Premier League goal this season and 40th in all competitions for Liverpool was not the only statistic that had Anfield purring against Bournemouth. Despite an exhausting midweek win against Manchester City in the Champions League there was no let-up from Jürgen Klopp’s team as they took their goals tally under the German to 300 in 148 games. Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané have scored 82 goals this season – the highest total from Liverpool’s three leading scorers in a single campaign. The manager wants more. Klopp said: “Three hundred is really a massive number. I love watching that kind of football but I don’t want to be the entertainer and it is like: ‘Oh we had fun but we didn’t win anything.’ I know the reason we come here together is to win things but I think the way you try to do it is important.” Andy Hunter

• Match report: Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth
Salah says European triumph is more important than goals record

7) Benítez continues to bring best out of Newcastle squad

The best coaches improve players and, by that criterion, Rafaek Benítez must be regarded as exceptional. An alarmingly limited and inexperienced Newcastle squad are up to 10th, on 41 points, having just secured a fourth straight win, at Arsenal’s expense. Since New Year’s Day they have collected 22 points from a possible 36. Much of that is down to the extraordinary progress made by, among others, Jonjo Shelvey, Jamaal Lascelles, Mo Diamé, Ayoze Pérez and Paul Dummett since August. “Staying up is a fantastic achievement in what has been a very difficult season,” said Benítez, whose January loan recruitment of the Sparta Prague goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and Chelsea left winger Kenedy have proved shrewd. “Every week the whole team is progressing and improving. I’m really pleased.” Louise Taylor

• Match report: Newcastle United 2-1 Arsenal
Jonathan Wilson: Arsenal fail to learn their lesson
Wenger says Arsenal defeat at Newcastle was ‘a worry character wise’

8) Giroud finally shows his worth to Chelsea

There were a number of variables at work at St Mary’s. First was the bullish strength of Olivier Giroud, whose determination to make the most of every moment led to a change in attitude throughout the team. Then there was the mental frailty of Southampton, perhaps to be expected of a club in deep relegation trouble. And finally there was a tactical tweak and the rare sighting of a Blues back four. Conte’s preference for a three-man defence is renowned, the security it provides being the bedrock on which the rest of Chelsea’s play is built. It also puts a lot of stress on the wing‑backs to deliver from forward positions. Last season they rose to the challenge, this time not so much. Marcos Alonso remains a potent threat but not in this match, and when he stepped back to allow Willian and Pedro to roam the wide spaces Chelsea posed a very different set of questions. Paul MacInnes

• Match report: Southampton 2-3 Chelsea
Hughes tells Southampton players to ‘get details right’ to survive
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9) Jordan Ayew continues to give Swansea hope

Every club in the relegation battle needs a talisman to provide hope and inspiration, and Swansea have found theirs in Jordan Ayew. The 26-year-old has been a player transformed since Carlos Carvalhal took over as manager, scoring six times but bringing far more than just goals to a team who were so prosaic and toothless in the first half of the season. Ayew’s ability to hold the ball up, together with his skill and trickery, gives Swansea an attacking dimension badly missed during his three-match ban. He returned against Everton, playing alongside his brother André, and was a constant threat, linking play, creating chances and scoring an equaliser – his 11th goal of the season – with a wonderfully taken half‑volley. “We know that we will always fight and die for this club, because it has given me and my brother so much,” Jordan said afterwards. Stuart James

• Match report: Swansea City 1-1 Everton

10) FA Cup remains significant target for Pochettino

Tottenham’s excellent run of 14 games without defeat came to an end against a resurgent Manchester City clearly with a point to prove but Mauricio Pochettino will be concerned that his side can pick themselves up quickly for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United. For all his success in making Spurs into genuine contenders, Pochettino has yet to win a trophy as a manager while it is now a decade since Tottenham supporters were last able to celebrate some silverware, the 2008 League Cup. Even if he has previously insisted that the domestic cup competition would not make up for failure elsewhere, with a top four place almost in the bag before Tuesday’s trip to face Brighton in the league, there is no reason why their manager cannot approach their semi-final full of ambition. Ed Aarons

• Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Manchester City

Pos Team P GD Pts
1 Man City 33 68 87
2 Man Utd 33 37 71
3 Liverpool 34 43 70
4 Tottenham Hotspur 33 35 67
5 Chelsea 33 24 60
6 Arsenal 33 17 54
7 Burnley 33 4 52
8 Leicester 33 2 43
9 Everton 34 -15 42
10 Newcastle 33 -7 41
11 AFC Bournemouth 34 -15 38
12 Watford 34 -18 37
13 Brighton 33 -15 35
14 Huddersfield 34 -27 35
15 West Ham 32 -18 34
16 Crystal Palace 34 -18 34
17 Swansea 33 -19 33
18 Southampton 33 -20 28
19 Stoke 33 -33 27
20 West Brom 34 -25 24


 

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