5 Talking Points from EPL Game Week 1

The pre-season games were just a teaser for the grand opening of the main show – the English Premier League. The trailer for most of the big teams seemed quite good – Arsenal seemed to emerge as major title challengers with the reliable Petr Cech manning the goal post now and a good pre-season under its belt; Manchester United and Liverpool, too, had not much to complain about; Chelsea, on the other hand, seemed to still be recovering from the case of holiday blues.Transfer activity for each of these clubs and others such Manchester City grabbed headlines with the signing of Cech by Arsenal being touted as the ‘signing of the season’ and the arrival of German warrior Bastian Schweinsteiger to Manchester United causing football fans across the globe, barring Bayern Munich loyalists, to sit up with glee.The bank-breaking signing of Raheem Sterling by Manchester City for £49 million, Radamel Falcao’s moving over to Chelsea from Manchester United, the curious case of Angel Di Maria – the months leading up to the start of the Premier League were nothing short of drama and excitement.And the Premier League began on quite the same note. There were surprises in store and how! We take a look at some of the talking points of the first Premier League game week that went by.

#5 Debutantes shine

Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring on his debut for the Magpies

The first game week of the new season of the Premier League definitely belonged to the debutants or new signings of each team. For Manchester United, from the four debutants they fielded in the starting line-up – Matteo Darmian, Sergio Romero, Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin – it was Darmian that really stood out with his all-round display, which even led Van Gaal to say that he was the best performer of the day for him.

The signing of Frenchman Yohan Cabaye for £13 million from PSG was an absolute masterstroke of a move by Crystal Palace that seems to be paying them rich dividends already with Cabaye scoring a stoppage minute goal in Palace’s 3-1 win over Norwich City.

The other new signings who made their presence felt during the first matches of the season were: Dimitri Payet of West Ham United who bamboozled the Gunners with his deft footwork; Dutchman Georginio Wijnaldum kicked off his run with Newcastle with a goal to boot while Ibrahim Afellay’s addition to Stoke City seems to have only boosted their goal-scoring options.

#4 Wanted: Striker. Level: Desperate

Manchester United – and Arsenal – need a top a striker to compete for the League

There are two teams who fit under this heading perfectly – Arsenal and Manchester United. For Arsenal, this is a case that has been ruminated, regurgitated and ruminated season after season to no effect. Could the defeat against West Ham have been avoided if there was a goal poacher present in the team? Just maybe. One would never know and as manager Arsene Wenger came out to say, he is not going to be induced into making a panic-buy after just one loss unless an exceptional solution presents himself before him. A panic-buy may do them good, though.

Manchester United seems to find themselves in this unusual situation mainly due to the loss of the three forwards they possessed – Robin Van Persie, Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria. This has meant that Wayne Rooney is the lone warrior upfront and after his performance in the last match, this may not be the best way forward. His almost languid run to slot the ball in and ending up assisting Kyle Walker’s own goal was more gasp-worthy than amusing. Definitely early days in the season, Rooney’s lack of sharpness is a cause for concern that manager Louis Van Gaal must look to address by brining a striker in – someone who can not only play those blitzing runs but also galvanise Manchester United’s captain to find his form of old.

#3 Hiding behind the Cloak of Invisibility?

Chelsea's Courtois is shown red for a late challenge on Swansea's Gomis

Chelsea’s pre-season campaign didn’t have much to speak about with a shock 4-2 loss to New York Red Bulls and Fiorentina, losing the Community Shield to Arsenal and just beat Barcelona and PSG on penalties. And the sluggish form of the champions seemed to have spilled over into the Premier League as well; while Swansea’s record of being the only away team to have scored against Chelsea held strong this season, too.

Chelsea narrowly escaped with a 2-2 draw in their first match of the season against Swansea was with problems aplenty in their most favoured department – the defence. The quartet of Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Cesar Azpiliceuta and Gary Cahill were far below their best last Saturday; Ivanovics’s inability as right-back clearly showing through. And this is a worry that Mourinho will hope to see vanishing soon enough, what with their next match against Manchester City and the likes of Sergio Aguero.

#2 Arrival of the Boy Genius

Reese Oxford of West Ham is touted for big things

Born in Edmonton and having joined West Ham United at the U13 level in 2011, Reece Oxford, all of 16 years and 236 days made his competitive debut for West Ham against Arsenal last weekend becoming the Hammers’ youngest ever Premier League player. This is just a contributing factor to why he is named in this list.

A central defender playing the role of manning the defence of the team ahead, Oxford’s performance was nonchalantly impeccable. With the composure of a seasoned player, Oxford managed to keep quiet Arsenal’s magician, Mesut Ozil, nullifying his presence entirely.

He saw to it that he maintained possession and also ended up with most tackles and interceptions than the other players. In many ways, it was a dream debut for Reece Oxford and one can only wait and see what the season reveals to us with regards to the talent this boy genius possesses.

#1 Reality Cech

Arsenal new boy, Petr Cech, had a debut to forget

Among the many issues that plagued Arsenal and prevented them from being taken as serious a title contender was the absence of an imposing figure in front of the goal post. The signing of former Chelsea keeper Petr Cech was seen as a strong statement of intent being made by the Gunners to change that, and had anyone mentioned that the final score line for Arsenal’s first match for the new season against West Ham at home would read 0-2, they’d probably be called delusional.

Cech had to bear most of the flak the team received as for someone who has had the best saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League, the sight of watching him rush out to punch Kouyate’s header away and missing it by a long way is a sight not many Arsenal fans will forget easily. The second gaffe came about in the second half when Cech was found floundering and was beaten far too easily by Zarate’s low, wrong-footed shot. Yes, Arsenal’s defence was certainly lacking in several places but much is expected from a player of Cech’s stature and it was definitely a forgettable start for the keeper’s journey with the Gunners.

The season has just begun and we have already had our fair share of shocks and surprises. What lies in store next? Can the big teams pull their weight or will the underdogs take away the spoils? The next 37 matches will let us know.