10 Things We Learned From The English Premier League Football Weekend (15-17 September 2017)
1. The Late Late Show
Is Ronald Koeman the new forerunner in the so-called sack race?
His Everton side is slower than a Paul Merson sentence, and just as baffling: after £140M spent, where is the pace? Everton possess a wealth of intelligence on the ball, but no runners to pass it to. What's the use in creating space, if there is nobody quick enough to exploit it? Antonio Valencia rocketed an early goal of the season contender flush into the top corner. Nobody was stopping that: slow, fast, whatever. Romelu Lukaku squandered a gilt-edged chance to take advantage of Everton's key failing shortly afterwards; with no forward options in a decent position, Phil Jagielka could only go the horizontal route. Juan Mata intercepted, and teed up Lukaku who failed to score against his old club. He showed no such mercy in another Jose Mourinho late show; he delivered a beautifully-weighted ball to Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the second, demonstrating guile as opposed to his usual, brute force approach. He added a third of his own through pure striker's instinct.
An Anthony Martial penalty added the so-called "gloss" - but this didn't so much flatter Manchester United as indict Everton's inability to recruit well in the summer.