Premier League winners and losers: Salah, Silva, Nuno, Manchester United, Pereira, RVN, MLS
Ruben Amorim and Ruud van Nistelrooy are finally together in abject misery, along with Bernardo Silva and Brentford. Mo Salah, Nuno and Vitor Pereira shone.
Mo Salah
It is difficult to think of a player so stupidly effective with such an unorthodox technique. Salah so frequently looks as if he has never encountered a football before yet there he is, surpassing Thierry Henry for combined goals and assists in the Premier League and fuelling another title charge.
That there still exists people who don’t think he is among the greatest forwards to grace the modern game is wonderfully heartening. He might well genuinely be the best.
Nuno Espirito Santo
A seamless formation change to plunder a ยูฟ่าเบท https://ufabet999.app previously impregnable fortress should be cause for greater praise but a sensational counter-attacking away win with three at the back is pure, uncut Nuno: an ostensibly simple plan carried out ludicrously effectively by wholly committed players.
The Portuguese has more Premier League points (53) than predecessor Steve Cooper (52) in 17 fewer games. It was an eyebrow-raising appointment and remains as such, just for entirely different reasons.
Forest being a beacon of competence is really quite weird, especially against the supposed model for promoted clubs to follow. Brentford were made to look inept by comparison.
Vitor Pereira
The standard of opponent provided a massive caveat but matching Gary O’Neil for Premier League away wins with a clean sheet as Wolves manager was as good a start as possible for Pereira. His last taste of the English top flight was so brief and bittersweet that marking one of his career objectives with a dominant victory must have felt phenomenal.
There will need to be innovation and evolution going forward but Pereira accentuated the existing strengths Wolves had as a potent attacking side while masking their deficiencies in defence. It won’t always be as simple as switching Matt Doherty and Nelson Semedo around but this was a fine introduction.
Bournemouth
It is always fun to see the suggestion that Bournemouth will be picked apart by the vultures this summer when their manager was plucked from Rayo Vallecano and the permanent signings in their starting line-up against Manchester United came from Juventus and Tottenham’s reserves, Dynamo Kyiv, AZ, Leeds, Celtic, Bristol City, Roma, Lorient and Porto.
Kepa is a slight exception and was wonderful at Old Trafford but even he was readily available on loan from Chelsea. While Bournemouth was a necessary stepping stone and provided the environment for the composite parts to shine in a less pressurised Premier League proving ground, these in-demand players and this manager were all on the market at knockdown prices for clubs brave enough to take the chance.