Would the real man please get up?
Fans of Manchester City left the Etihad on Saturday with more questions than answers after a performance that was the full antithesis of last weekend's victory over Wolves. Creative, smooth patterns were replaced by fantasy, misguided steps.
James Trafford's fault will be the hardest because it led to a goal, but he was far from the worst perpetrator. City was sloppy, undone by a team that looked more confident and was insured in their specific roles.
Christian Romero did a song about Erling Haaland. Joao Palhinha, who won more duels than any other player, and Rodrigo Bentancur was more assertive than Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez in midfield. Mohammed Kudus direct in attack.
They were also excellent for defensive, especially from Thomas Frank for a 'top mentality'. No signs of spursy spurs here.
As far as man City is concerned, this is a confusing start. Are they contrary again as title candidates or was MatchDay one just a list? Pep Guardiola insisted that his side would “make the click” – but offered no guarantees about when that could happen. Until then we will be left to think about what this man of the man, complete with his extravagant summer renewal, is really capable of. Laura Hunter
Bournemouth's best business? Iraola
Some players may be different, but the ethos and tactics remain the same for Bournemouth. That is why perhaps the best company the cherries did this summer was to hold Andoni Iraola. This was many things as usual for them.
Wolves were sometimes swept away by the brave Bournemouth press and aggression without the ball. That could be seen for the only purpose of the game where Tyler Adams Jean -Orner Bellegarde robbed in a typical Iraola -penetrating fall that the visitors fell into. It ended the game -winning moment. It is this style of football that played a major role in the catches of Ben Gannon-Doak and Amine Adli, who offered the home fans a glimpse of his talents in an impressive cameo. With Iraola at the helm, another season of excitement awaits. Lewis Jones
Ouattara's 'selfless' display hurts gloom about the gtech on
There Was, understandable, some Doom and Gloom around the gtech after Brentford Saw Bryan mbeumo Leave for man utd this summer and thene wissa also ask to join newcastle united, a double blow compounded by a limp opening -for -hall forestion in fate forest. Against Aston Villa Has Given the Bees and New Head Coach Keith Andrews A Real Spring in Their Step.
It cost the West-London club £ 42 million to replace Mbeumo with the Bournemouth Forward, but that seems to be money that is well spent based on his competition-winning display that saw from Villa on Saturday afternoon to give Andrews his first victory as the new bee boss.
It was not only the self-assured way in which the 23-year-old took his goal after I was played clean by Igor Thiago's smart film that fell the eye of his boss.
But also the way in which the Burkina Faso International brought a large part of the rest of the game by following, marking Lucas Digne and win more duels than one of his teammates, before he rightly received a standing ovation when he was replaced late.
“His goal will get the headlines, but for me it was the aspects of the game, the selfless nature of how he approached the game, and knew what was needed to get a result,” said Andrews after the game.
“If he didn't hold on to that, it would have been very difficult to deal with them. He was great in a few days [since joining]. I know he will be a big player for this club, his attributes are for everyone to see.
“You will see that more as we get more control over games and feed him a little more, but the out of possession he did was selfless. I am not too surprised, from the first moment I spoke to him, I was really impressed by him.” Rich Morgan
Played two, none won, none scored
The third statistics should worry more than the second, because the results will not follow until Unai Emery's side can look more dangerous.
For a second weekend in a row they were not effective for the goal and despite the improvement after an Onder-PAR first 45 in Brentford, they only succeeded in a lonely shot on goal from their second half.
Emery pointed out after the game that the backs-to-the-wall shift was reminiscent of each of his party's visits to the Gtech since he took over.
But this victory for the hosts ended an undefeated line of six games for the Villans. Yes, these are normally tight things, but Villa normally has the cheating for things.
It is easy to point out the loss of attacking players since the end of last season, but this was still a line, including Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans, with one of the most willing runners of the Premier League – and deadliest finishers – in attack.
At the strange opportunity the game patterns worked well and they looked dangerous. But something doesn't click, and it's not just a lack of new faces. Ron Walker
Promoted parties that show the fight to stay up
It took until October for all three to win a match in the Premier League last season. This season it only took two weeks.
Burnley, Sunderland and Leeds United also won half of as many home games last season as the last Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton.
It is early days for the newly promoted trio, but all three teams show the courage, determination and quality to secure points in the top flight.
Whether they can keep this momentum during the entire season is still to be seen. However, the early signs are promising.
All three promoted teams fell back in the championship last season – that may not be the case this time. Patrick Rowe