Premier League Week 3: Liverpool Shine, City Stumble, United (Finally) Score A Win
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Liverpool set an early benchmark for title-chasing teams in a weekend where Pep Guardiola’s philosophy of control seemed to gradually fade against a setting sun, writes Manik Sharma. |
Liverpool set a marker IF ANYONE WAS LOOKING for the first signs of who’d be the team to beat/chase for the Premier League title, Liverpool set a marker in front of their home fans. In a game of two halves — both of them thin on goalmouth action — it took a moment of clutter-breaking brilliance from a set-piece to separate two teams playing below themselves. More than Dominic Szoboszlai’s exquisite winner, though, it’s Arsenal’s lack of finesse that’s concerning. For the third game running, even though they scored 5 goals last week, they lacked ideas, edge and any wherewithal to change things. The fact that they couldn’t or didn’t want to take advantage of Liverpool’s lack of a right-back (Szoboszlai has now played there in two consecutive games) tells you of the radical shift in Arsenal’s footballing philosophy — thou shalt not get beaten. They did get beaten, but not before they turned in another dour, hard-to-look-at performance. Watch the match here on OTTplay Premium |
Man City aren’t contenders (yet) Pep Guardiola’s City team have seen the highs of treble-winning seasons, four peerless titles on the trot and a fortress built on embarrassing consistency. These, though, are different times. At Brighton, City looked in control, or at least what was a false sense of dullness. Erling Haaland was menacing, Rodri back, somewhat, to his neat self. At the hour mark, a switch was flicked, and for the last thirty-odd minutes of the game, City resembled, not the powerhouse that teams felt intimidated by, but fragile pretenders who ought to have lost by a bigger margin. On another day, City would have scored three in the first half and finished the game off before Brighton’s dogged overachievers sniffed a comeback. That they can neither do that nor, dare I say it, control the game and force teams into bland submission is even more telling. It’s evidence of the Guardiola school of thought, coming unstuck against a generational pivot. If this is just another blip before City find themselves again, it remains to be seen. But they are nowhere near what Premier League contenders look like. Or worse, their old self. |
Man Utd have a long season ahead of them Turn to the end of the highlights reel in Manchester United’s game against Burnley and you’ll get the sense they’ve won a Champions League qualifier in the last minute, or beaten a close rival in a last-mile dash to an important trophy. Or maybe beaten the drop by a whisker. That last one is closer to reality. And the fact that United managed to make a game out of a routine victory, against one of the poorest squads in the league, tells its own story. A win is a win, but United’s strictly mid-table aura must be taken into account for the way they are discussed in footballing circles. They won’t be lighting any grounds on fire or disrupting expectations anytime soon. This is where they are — delirious about a last-minute victory against a team they should be rolling over in 20 minutes at home. Expect things to unexpectedly change again, the next time the red devils take to the pitch. |
Spurs brought back down to earth For the first two weekends of this new season, Tottenham Hotspur, boosted by the arrival of pragmatist manager Thomas Frank, offered evidence of a more solid, committed era. One in which picking your moment would take precedence over a gung-ho approach to attacking football. The victory away to City was the first sign of that emerging model — with caution as an anchor. Turns out, that victory said more about City than it did about Spurs, and their arrival of a grand new design. Against Bournemouth, Spurs were lucky not to be on the end of a mauling. If not for Bournemouth’s profligacy in front of goal, Frank would be staring at the wrong end of a humbling early into his spell at the club that will be in the Champions League this year. Spurs must add players to the roster if they are to survive, a campaign on multiple fronts, let alone compete to win something. |
Caicedo is Chelsea’s other linchpin Chelsea’s expensive midfield duo of Caicedo and Fernandes still doesn’t add up. The latter, especially. It’s hard to see what Fernandes is exceptional at, other than subjecting his body to gruesome-looking tattoo art. He can neither carry the ball at pace, nor make key interceptions or passes that can split the second line of defence, not with any consistency at least. At least Caicedo is earning his keep. For the second season, he has shown nerve, courage and that gut-bursting commitment to the football club that paid a small fortune for him. His lung-tearing tackle to prevent a shot on goal in the first half was met with the ovation of a goal. Without him, it’s hard to see how Chelsea’s midfield could offer the speed and intensity required to win crunch games. For everything Fernandes doesn’t offer, Caicedo has been picking up the cheque. Chelsea should hope that their Argentinian maverick — and stand-in captain — can someday begin to pay them back as well. |
Postscript: VAR will never make everyone happy. The Premier League has introduced the notional ritual of referees explaining their VAR decisions on speakers inside stadiums. But that won’t help moderate football’s capacity for chaos. Chelsea’s penalty in the game against Fulham had what looked like three different phases of foul play in the build-up. To add to Fulham’s woes, their own goal scored on a well-taken counter was chalked off owing to a stamp on a Chelsea player’s foot in the buildup. The question isn’t what’s a foul and what isn’t — while that is subjective too — but what constitutes a phase of play and just how far back will you go in time to review the action. To that question, there might never be a right answer. Only a safe one. Premier League matches come to you live and exclusive on JioHotStar, with an OTTplay subscription. Don’t miss a minute! |
The Chronicles Of The 4.5 Gang Is Uneven, Yet Entertainingly Solid
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Krishand’s narrative balances the style and pop glamour traditionally associated with the gangster genre with a more straightforward, truth-seeking tale of men confronting reality.
Aditya Shrikrishna writes. |
“YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING about postmodern narrative”, bemoans the Malayalam writer, ghost writing a novel for a small-time, but battle-hardened, world-weary gangster from Thiruvanchipuram. The gangster is narrating his admittedly short but eventful story of adult life, his criminal escapades with four other friends. Crime wasn’t the choice they made. It was a byproduct of all their attempts to legitimise their lives out of oppression, a ticket out of their matchbox-sized slums. Arikuttan, charmingly played by Sanju Sivram, sits across writer Maithreyan, veteran in spirit (played by Jagadish) as well as pedigree, and tells him to go easy on the colourful digressions that the writer plucks out of his imagination. But Maithreyan wants that postmodern flourish, that bite of a story that functions as an adventure with an immediate judgment call laced with irony. It’s not surprising. The writer and director is Krishand, and the Sony LIV web series Sambhava Vivaranam Nalarasangham, or The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang, has his stamp all over. Stream the latest Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu releases, with OTTplay's Power Play monthly pack, for only Rs 149. If anything, Krishand is prolific. In six years, he’s made four features — Vrithakrithyilulla Chathuram, Aavasavyuham, Purusha Pretham and The Art of Warfare, all directed by him, along with one interesting co-producing credit—Gaganachari. While there is news that his fifth feature is almost ready, The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang has about six fifty-minute episodes. Krishand’s interest tends towards those postmodern affectations of edgy anti-heroes, those seemingly operating on the fringes of society, only revealing that they are the very oxygen when we peel the layers. Crime, comedy and irony go hand in hand here with one eye in a squint and tongue firmly in cheek. While one could argue that this style can easily be passe or overdone, there are still interesting flourishes up Krishand’s sleeves, and the 4.5 gang adds to it. Continue reading. |
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