Gameweek 11: The Headlines

Greetings from Cloudland Canyon, where I'm cozied up in a hotel bed, watching the mist come in over the mountains, and wishing I didn't have to leave.

For anyone ever in the Rising Fawn, GA area, I recommend.

This was the week Ryan and I embarked on a staycation, Manchester City lost for the fourth time in a row, Liverpool strengthened their position at the top of the table, and both Wolves and Ipswich finally won a game.

Hooray!

Manchester City in crisis

This week, Manchester City lost to Brighton, whose dazzling comeback win was the stuff of fairy tales. Unless you're a City fan, in which case it was the stuff of nightmares.

I must preface this by saying it's not as bad as it sounds. The Cityzens have only lost two Premier League matches (the other two losses coming in the Champion's League and Carabao Cup), so they're still holding strong in second place.

However, City have become such serial winners under Pep Guardiola that I can't remember the last time they lost 4 matches in a row. Neither, it seems, can Pep.

It's true that injuries are a concern, and players (especially the back line) are dropping like flies. As Pep said,

"All four central defenders are injured. And Rodri, the best player, is not there. Kevin De Bruyne is away from his best. Jeremy Doku is injured. Jack Grealish is injured. You can do it [win] for one game, but to be consistent, you cannot."

Normally, City don't play their best until the latter half of the season–at which point they go on a brutally efficient winning rampage, à la Arnold Schwarzenegger en route to destroy all of humanity in "The Terminator"–but even so. Something looks a little off this year.

I imagine that after City players recover from injury they will once again get back to winning ways. But will the damage already be done? Even with Liverpool's commanding 5-point lead in the table, this year's title race feels wide open.

Whereas in the past, Pep has always been confident in his team's ability to win the league, he's now admitted skepticism. In his post-match interview, he told media that,

"Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe ... another team deserve it. We are not able to do 90 minutes right now."

Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, are you listening to this?!

The Jack Grealish/Pep Guardiola drama

As detailed above, Manchester City are dealing with woes upon woes. Those woes include Jack Grealish.

But when, you might be asking (and rightfully so), is there not drama with Jack Grealish?

For context, this is the same man who didn't know what an encyclopedia was, who once caught flack for messaging not one, but two "Love Island" contestants while in a long-term committed relationship, and who had the dubious honor of being plastered all over "The Daily Mail," while he himself was plastered in Tenerife.

But this drama is different.

Jack hasn't featured much for Manchester City this year, and Pep says it's due to Jack's fitness. However, Jack was called up to the England squad for next week's international games, which makes it seem like he's not injured.

So how come Jack is fit to play for England, but not fit to play for Manchester City? When faced with this question, Pep was cagey.

The Spaniard replied, "That's a question for [the England manager]," before adding, "For my team tomorrow, he's not fit, he cannot play."

Is Pep fighting with Jack? Does he think Jack's not good enough to play?

I can't help remembering the time (in 2022) that Pep told then-Manchester City player Kalvin Phillips he was too fat. And then Kalvin got blacklisted everywhere and now plays for Ipswich. Is this a similar situation?

At least, in this post-Gareth Southgate era, Jack still has England.

Statement wins for Ipswich, Wolves, and Manchester United

Last week, I wrote a whole section praising Tottenham and asking rhetorically whether "Angeball" was finally clicking into gear. Well, the joke's on me, fam!!

Tottenham are football's equivalent of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich (Manchester City/Aston Villa) and donating wins to the poor (Ipswich).

Massive kudos to the Tractor Boys, who not only won their FIRST match of the Premier League season, but who also scored this bada** opener.

And they did it in front of their main hype man, Ed Sheeran!

I'll admit that Ipswich beating Tottenham in Tottenham's own backyard wasn't on my bingo card, but Wolves' win was. I was so pleased to see the boys in yellow finally get a win, after a grueling slate of matches and lots of near misses.

Matheus Cunha was the man of the match, with an assist and a goal to make it 2-0. The question remains, is this win enough to save manager Gary O'Neil's job?

We'll see. Dubious VAR calls and a horrific opening run of matches have left poor Gary SOL so far. Wolves simply must get back to winning ways.

Lastly, Manchester United whupped Leicester City's behinds, with Bruno Fernandes scoring a goal and recording two assists.

I'm no fan of Bruno, but if you play Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and you've had Bruno on your team for the whole season, then you deserve this week's payout. God knows you've suffered enough.

This was just United's second Premier League game since former manager Erik Ten Haag was fired. And they've been playing ... a lot better under interim manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy?

This happens sometimes. During times of transition, teams can play well under an interim coach for a few games or so, prompting fan speculation that the interim coach should just take over. But in Man U's case, a head coach has already been appointed!

Incoming coach Ruben Amorin will supposedly be holding talks with Ruud Van Nistelrooy to determine Ruud's future with the club. I feel like Ruben is probably leery of this turning into another Frank Lampard/Steven Gerrard situation, but obviously Idk what he's thinking.

Some musings on Arsenal from an Arsenal fan

Right now, Arsenal's season feels a lot like my plan to get all my work done ahead of the Christmas break.

One step forward, a somersault backwards, and three cartwheels sideways.

On its own, Arsenal's 1-1 result against Chelsea isn't bad! But the tie comes on the heels of a 4 game winless streak, just like Manchester City.

We've had a lot go against us: unlucky VAR calls, injuries to key players, tough fixtures, etc. I haven't lost faith. Now, Martin Odegaard is back and his return has revitalized a battered and bruised Arsenal squad. I have the feeling it's only up from here, but has this tough period damaged our title hopes beyond repair?

Maybe. Maybe not. Does Arteta need to take the lads on another trip to Dubai? Yes, and post-haste!

Whether or not you think Arsenal's going to win the league, you probably agree that this year's title race is E-X-C-I-T-I-N-G. A reminder of the current table standings:

It feels like eons since anyone other than City won.

But could this be the year?