Premiership News Round-Up
The top Stories from Week 1 in the Premier League
Wayne Rooney's foot, David Moyes' brain and Gareth Southgate's hair all make the headlines in the first week of the Premiership.
Rooney out until October with broken foot
During an interview just before the start of the season, Sir Alex Ferguson commented how pleased he was that striker Wayne Rooney had been able to enjoy an injury free pre-season following the foot problems he had suffered during the same period for the past two years. No sooner had the Manchester United manager’s words finished echoing around the Theatre of Dreams than Rooney’s recurring nightmare was back once again.
Part way through United’s opening game of the season, Reading defender Michael Duberry accidentally stood on Rooney’s left foot, causing the England striker to be substituted. After the match the club confirm that Rooney had suffered a hairline fracture and would be out for up to two months.
Using John O’Shea as a makeshift striker, United could only manage a disappointing home draw against a resilient Royals side, which was followed by another draw away at Portsmouth. Already four points behind the Premiership leaders, including Chelsea, and with Rooney likely to miss the home Premiership fixture against the Blues, as well as important matches against Manchester City, Tottenham and Everton, Ferguson will be hoping for some better news as soon as possible.
Moyes’ mind helps Everton set early pace
Although league tables at the end of the first week may be of little relevance, credit must go to Everton manager David Moyes for his sides’ fantastic start to the season.
Despite rumours of some big money signings in the pipeline, Moyes spent most of the summer watching many of the clubs around him, including two of the newly promoted sides, spend the kind of sums he could only dream of. Two games into the new season, however, he can look down on everyone as Everton sit top of the Premiership.
What Moyes apparently lacks in funds he seem to more than make up for with intelligence. Over the last few years he has invested transfer monies wisely and moulded, from a relatively small squad, a side, that is not only Tonka truck solid, but also blends experienced players with the successes of a well run youth policy.
Whilst their home victory against Wigan was probably expected, the Toffee’s 3-1 away win at Tottenham suggests that Moyes’ team now has a similar mental resilience to that of their manager, something that bodes well for the greater challenges that lie ahead.
Middlesbrough’s results give Southgate cause for concern
At the start of every season many observers look for early indications to suggest whether any of the established Premiership sides may find themselves in a relegation battle.
Whilst Tottenham currently sit bottom of the league most would concede that their wealth of talent will be more than enough to carry them away from the danger zone. If the standard of Middlesbrough’s first few performances continues, however, manager Gareth Southgate may find his luscious locks turning grey and falling out.
To his credit Southgate appears to realise that to change his sides’ current record of no points and no goals from open play he urgently needs to complete the signing of Tottenham’s Mido, so that he has a target man who can contribute goals and bring the likes of Yakubu and Aliadiere into play, and get defenders Woodgate and Huth back from injury.
Even with these pieces in place though, the performance of Wigan’s Jason Koumas may have shown the Middlesbrough manager that, besides Stewart Downing, the lack of a creative spark in midfield may be the side’s biggest problem and with tricky fixtures against Fulham and Newcastle to come things certainly won’t be getting any easier.
