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Chelski
Even now it feels probable that, in five months' time, Chelski will fondly recall this weekend as the turning point in the title race.
John Terry
As John Terry noted on Tuesday, Manchester United have been "lucky with injuries this season", and Sir Fergie was, once again, able to field his first-choice team at West Ham.
But Terry neglected to mention Chelski's own continued good fortune with injuries before inadvertently providing a reminder on Sunday by succumbing to a back problem. Perhaps undone by unfamiliarity, the champions badly missed their leader, with the erratic Khalid Boulahrouz proving a less-than-able deputy. Barring two tremendous late strikes in the last ten minutes, the Blues would have dropped significant points as a direct consequence of his absence.
The lack of squad depth is the obvious flaw in ManYoo's title aspirations, but, for the first time in Jose Mourinho's reign, questions are being asked of Chelski's squad and answered unconvincingly.
Despite the avowed commitment to build a squad in which two players would contest every position, the citing of nine untouchables confirmed that the policy had been discarded. It would be stretching a point to claim that Mourinho is as dependent upon his chosen few as Fergie undoubtedly is. However, against Newcastle on Wednesday, a reshuffled Chelski team including five squad players struggled and it required the introduction of Didier Drogba for the match to be won. Just one injury on Sunday meant that a similar tale occurred at Goodison.
The champions have been lucky with injuries this season - of the eight outfield untouchables only Michael Ballack has been seriously affected, although Joe Cole has missed most of the campaign - and, in so much as a strength can be a weakness, perhaps too lucky.
Chelski have become so reliant on their untouchables that any absence becomes a severe jolt to their system. Judging by Boulahrouz's contribution at Goodison, Terry's lengthy truancy would be significantly damaging. The same applies to Drogba. And the question of how Chelski would cope without Frank Lampard is a six-year unsolved mystery.
Yet with eight games to be played over 23 days before January 2, Mourinho has no option but to look beyond his chosen few and discover just how strong his squad actually is. He knows already that he urgently needs his captain back.
West Ham United
Dullards with an inflated impression of their own cleverness will ask how the Hammers can beat both Arsenal and ManYoo and still be bottom of the table. The answer is simple: Football is not an exact science and it is surprisingly common for teams to earn more than they deserve.
Sheffield United
Making the very most of the little they have. The Blades have only scored three goals on their travels this term yet each has been sufficient to earn victory.
What they lack in craft, they have, so far at least, compensated with graft. "Apart from maybe Phil Jagielka and Paddy Kenny," admitted Warnock, "you wouldn't find many people outside of Sheffield who could name any of our players yet they are in the Premiership and having a good go at staying there."
The Hammers' surprise win blunted the Blades' weekend, however.
Tottenham
In a tale of the unexpected, Spurs' first away win in the Premiership since April ended Citeh's unbeaten home record this season.
Glen Johnson
Performing well enough at Pompey to suggest that he could return to Chelski next season as a solution to their problem at right-back.
Liverpool
Be wary of awarding Liverpool excessive praise as Charlton were hopelessly inept. Nonetheless, Pool are recovering, unbeaten in six domestic matches and winning their last three Premiership encounters by a cumulative score of 11-0.
Emmanuel Adebayor
Arsene Wenger has made plenty of mistakes this season but it is unfair to criticise the surprise inclusion of Jeremie Aliadiere against Pompey in order to rest Adebayor. For baffling ineptitude, it certainly didn't match the catastrophical selection of the woeful Alex Song and error-prone Philippe Senderos last month at Fulham.
After four successive games as a hard-running lone frontman in the previous two weeks, Adebayor required rest ahead of another busy week.
"I'm not completely sure he would have stopped the goals we conceded," Wenger noted drily afterwards. Moreover, had Robin Van Persie, whose profligacy is beginning to exasperate, accepted any of four clear opportunities then Adebayor's leave would have been irrelevant.
Jussi Jaaskelainen
If only F365's Adam Fraser were not an Aston Villa supporter he could have gleaned satisfaction from championing the Bolton keeper in our Premiership under-rated series this week.
Losers
Jose Mourinho
It is just as well that only Jose Mourinho could still dominate the backpages after such an enthralling day of drama because the Chelski manager's entertainment value has long since given way to unacceptable boorishness. His lack of class and paranoid ravings are the primary reason why his club will remain widely detested outside of west London regardless of their on-field activities.
Mourinho's latest encounter with baloney was his entirely unnecessary decision to devote his post-match comments to the denouncement of Andy Johnson. No matter that replays of the cited "dive" during the first-half told a different tale. It mattered not a jot because Mourinho does not care for reality and didn't even accept David Moyes' invitation to study a re-run of the incident before slandering the striker. When his interpretation of events was questioned by a gentleman of the press, Mourinho sneered "You are Johnson's friend, no?" in response.
Such a confrontation is rare. It has become the norm for the media to present a manager's delusions as gospel. This week, Sir Alex Ferguson was permitted to announce without rebuke that "Chelsea's level at the moment is better than it has been over the past two years." Not true; at the same stage last season, Chelski's points haul was superior by seven points. The Fourth Estate would regain a measure of credibilty if it began to challenge such statements rather than repeating them as fact like subservient lap-dogs.
Tim Howard
Not a week for the American to remember with any pride, although Didier Drogba's effort was a mere tap-in compared to the 45-yard thunderbolt smacked over the Everton keeper's head by Pompey's Matt Taylor last Saturday.
Arsenal
It cannot be a simple unfortunate quirk of fate that Arsenal players suffer so many muscle injuries, miss so many chances, and defend set-pieces so slackly.
Manuel Fernandes
Omitted against Arsenal because the terms of his loan deal from Benfica includes a stipulation that a ?12m transfer would automatically be triggered if he plays in three successive Premiership matches for Pompey. It's a bizarre business.
Wigan
The 16,322 fans populating the JJB Stadium weren't quite out-numbered by the empty seats around them but it was a good fight.
The attendance was a new weekend low for Wigan and reduced their overall average to 17,401, a fall of 3,000 compared to last season.
A common misconception is that the lack of interest can be solely attributed to Wigan being a 'rugby town'. It must be factor, yet the average attendance at the JJB for Wigan Warriors matches in 2006 is 14,464, and even that represents an increase of 30% compared to 2002 and 2003. Perhaps it is simply a case that, with a clutch of Premiership peers in the immediate vicinity, a town recorded in the 2001 census as being home to 81,203 inhabitants simply isn't big enough to justify a 25,000 all-seater stadium.
Chelski
Even now it feels probable that, in five months' time, Chelski will fondly recall this weekend as the turning point in the title race.
John Terry
As John Terry noted on Tuesday, Manchester United have been "lucky with injuries this season", and Sir Fergie was, once again, able to field his first-choice team at West Ham.
But Terry neglected to mention Chelski's own continued good fortune with injuries before inadvertently providing a reminder on Sunday by succumbing to a back problem. Perhaps undone by unfamiliarity, the champions badly missed their leader, with the erratic Khalid Boulahrouz proving a less-than-able deputy. Barring two tremendous late strikes in the last ten minutes, the Blues would have dropped significant points as a direct consequence of his absence.
The lack of squad depth is the obvious flaw in ManYoo's title aspirations, but, for the first time in Jose Mourinho's reign, questions are being asked of Chelski's squad and answered unconvincingly.
Despite the avowed commitment to build a squad in which two players would contest every position, the citing of nine untouchables confirmed that the policy had been discarded. It would be stretching a point to claim that Mourinho is as dependent upon his chosen few as Fergie undoubtedly is. However, against Newcastle on Wednesday, a reshuffled Chelski team including five squad players struggled and it required the introduction of Didier Drogba for the match to be won. Just one injury on Sunday meant that a similar tale occurred at Goodison.
The champions have been lucky with injuries this season - of the eight outfield untouchables only Michael Ballack has been seriously affected, although Joe Cole has missed most of the campaign - and, in so much as a strength can be a weakness, perhaps too lucky.
Chelski have become so reliant on their untouchables that any absence becomes a severe jolt to their system. Judging by Boulahrouz's contribution at Goodison, Terry's lengthy truancy would be significantly damaging. The same applies to Drogba. And the question of how Chelski would cope without Frank Lampard is a six-year unsolved mystery.
Yet with eight games to be played over 23 days before January 2, Mourinho has no option but to look beyond his chosen few and discover just how strong his squad actually is. He knows already that he urgently needs his captain back.
West Ham United
Dullards with an inflated impression of their own cleverness will ask how the Hammers can beat both Arsenal and ManYoo and still be bottom of the table. The answer is simple: Football is not an exact science and it is surprisingly common for teams to earn more than they deserve.
Sheffield United
Making the very most of the little they have. The Blades have only scored three goals on their travels this term yet each has been sufficient to earn victory.
What they lack in craft, they have, so far at least, compensated with graft. "Apart from maybe Phil Jagielka and Paddy Kenny," admitted Warnock, "you wouldn't find many people outside of Sheffield who could name any of our players yet they are in the Premiership and having a good go at staying there."
The Hammers' surprise win blunted the Blades' weekend, however.
Tottenham
In a tale of the unexpected, Spurs' first away win in the Premiership since April ended Citeh's unbeaten home record this season.
Glen Johnson
Performing well enough at Pompey to suggest that he could return to Chelski next season as a solution to their problem at right-back.
Liverpool
Be wary of awarding Liverpool excessive praise as Charlton were hopelessly inept. Nonetheless, Pool are recovering, unbeaten in six domestic matches and winning their last three Premiership encounters by a cumulative score of 11-0.
Emmanuel Adebayor
Arsene Wenger has made plenty of mistakes this season but it is unfair to criticise the surprise inclusion of Jeremie Aliadiere against Pompey in order to rest Adebayor. For baffling ineptitude, it certainly didn't match the catastrophical selection of the woeful Alex Song and error-prone Philippe Senderos last month at Fulham.
After four successive games as a hard-running lone frontman in the previous two weeks, Adebayor required rest ahead of another busy week.
"I'm not completely sure he would have stopped the goals we conceded," Wenger noted drily afterwards. Moreover, had Robin Van Persie, whose profligacy is beginning to exasperate, accepted any of four clear opportunities then Adebayor's leave would have been irrelevant.
Jussi Jaaskelainen
If only F365's Adam Fraser were not an Aston Villa supporter he could have gleaned satisfaction from championing the Bolton keeper in our Premiership under-rated series this week.
Losers
Jose Mourinho
It is just as well that only Jose Mourinho could still dominate the backpages after such an enthralling day of drama because the Chelski manager's entertainment value has long since given way to unacceptable boorishness. His lack of class and paranoid ravings are the primary reason why his club will remain widely detested outside of west London regardless of their on-field activities.
Mourinho's latest encounter with baloney was his entirely unnecessary decision to devote his post-match comments to the denouncement of Andy Johnson. No matter that replays of the cited "dive" during the first-half told a different tale. It mattered not a jot because Mourinho does not care for reality and didn't even accept David Moyes' invitation to study a re-run of the incident before slandering the striker. When his interpretation of events was questioned by a gentleman of the press, Mourinho sneered "You are Johnson's friend, no?" in response.
Such a confrontation is rare. It has become the norm for the media to present a manager's delusions as gospel. This week, Sir Alex Ferguson was permitted to announce without rebuke that "Chelsea's level at the moment is better than it has been over the past two years." Not true; at the same stage last season, Chelski's points haul was superior by seven points. The Fourth Estate would regain a measure of credibilty if it began to challenge such statements rather than repeating them as fact like subservient lap-dogs.
Tim Howard
Not a week for the American to remember with any pride, although Didier Drogba's effort was a mere tap-in compared to the 45-yard thunderbolt smacked over the Everton keeper's head by Pompey's Matt Taylor last Saturday.
Arsenal
It cannot be a simple unfortunate quirk of fate that Arsenal players suffer so many muscle injuries, miss so many chances, and defend set-pieces so slackly.
Manuel Fernandes
Omitted against Arsenal because the terms of his loan deal from Benfica includes a stipulation that a ?12m transfer would automatically be triggered if he plays in three successive Premiership matches for Pompey. It's a bizarre business.
Wigan
The 16,322 fans populating the JJB Stadium weren't quite out-numbered by the empty seats around them but it was a good fight.
The attendance was a new weekend low for Wigan and reduced their overall average to 17,401, a fall of 3,000 compared to last season.
A common misconception is that the lack of interest can be solely attributed to Wigan being a 'rugby town'. It must be factor, yet the average attendance at the JJB for Wigan Warriors matches in 2006 is 14,464, and even that represents an increase of 30% compared to 2002 and 2003. Perhaps it is simply a case that, with a clutch of Premiership peers in the immediate vicinity, a town recorded in the 2001 census as being home to 81,203 inhabitants simply isn't big enough to justify a 25,000 all-seater stadium.
). I'm a great believer that the table doesn't lie at the end of the season. It's about results not potential.