Shearer Says: “Everyone at Chelsea seem to have frowns on their faces. They should be enjoying playing their football.”

Newcastle worked so hard and they got what they deserved

It has been a while coming but what a result for Newcastle against Liverpool. The players worked so hard and they got what deserved. They were up for it and they were prepared to scrap. They worked as a team. Ok, they got a bit of luck with the offside decision but when everyone shows the commitment they did against a good side, they deserve a bit of luck and the three points.

The frustrating thing is, they have shown they can do it, earlier in the season against Chelsea and now against an in-form Liverpool side. So there can be no excuses now for performances like those against Leicester or Crystal Palace.

From a Liverpool perspective, I don’t think many people saw that result coming. They should have been full of confidence after the six goals they had scored against Southampton in the Cup. It looked like Liverpool thought they just had to turn up and they’d win the game, which was great for Newcastle as they took advantage of that. The energy that Liverpool had shown in previous games simply wasn’t there for them.

I am looking at Chelsea and everyone has a frown on their faces

Another remarkable result from the weekend was Bournemouth’s victory at Stamford Bridge. That is the way the Premier League is going this year. Every single weekend there are results which you would not expect. I thought Bournemouth were brilliant.

Just when Chelsea seem to get one or two decent results and you think they have turned the corner, they put in a performance like that again. It is so strange. I am looking at Chelsea and their body language is poor and from the players, the manager, his staff and all the way up to the owner, they all have frowns on their faces. Clearly they aren’t enjoying their football at the moment and certainly the fans aren’t enjoying watching it. It should be the greatest thing ever to be out playing in front of over 40,000 home fans but the results and the pressure are taking their toll. If it’s like that on match day, it’s probably the same in training. Of course, it’s hard to enjoy your football when you are losing week after week and it’s a situation that is alien to most of the squad and certainly the manager. But they need to try and recapture the team spirit they had when they were winning. It’s easy when results are going your way but they need to fight and unite as a unit and try and enjoy their football.

When you compare how many they have scored this season to where they were twelve months ago and compare how many they have conceded at this stage to last season, they obviously have massive problems. The difference is ridiculous. They are not scoring goals and they are not keeping them out. It’s a recipe for disaster for Chelsea!

I think top four is now gone for them. It looks highly unlikely anyway. They will have two priorities now for the season. One is the Champions League. They have to get a result against Porto this week to qualify for the last 16 of the competition. The other priority should be the FA Cup.

Mourinho has to get a positive result against his old club Porto. When the draw was made for this stage, they would have been relatively happy with the group they got. If they don’t get out of the group now, well its unthinkable!

It would be an embarrassment to get just one English club through to last 16

There could be a case of just one English club making it to the knockout stage of the competition this year. That has never happened before. It just sums up the state of the Premier League at the moment. It’s not at a great standard. It might be exciting for fans as they don’t know what is going to happen every weekend as everyone is beating each other but it would be an embarrassment just to get one club into the last sixteen.

Stoke could have easily put five or six past Manchester City

Stoke’s victory at home to Manchester City at the weekend was another surprise result. They could easily have put five or six past Manchester City who deserved a good hiding. Defensively they were all over the place and they can have no complaints. They looked tired and leggy and the performance overall was very poor. I don’t buy into what Pellegrini has said when he suggests his players are playing too many games. They have limitless resources and a bigger and better squad than anyone and so he cant use that as an excuse.

City spent a lot of money on their defence and they have yet to get it right. As a centre forward, you’d fancy your chances coming up against that defence that played on Saturday.

I can’t say with confidence that United can go to Germany and beat Wolfsburg

In the other half of Manchester, United have the opposite problem, they can’t seem to score a goal. They are another team going into the Champions League with work to do this week. If they do miss out, it will be unacceptable. But I just can’t say with any confidence that they can go to Germany and beat Wolfsburg because they never look like scoring. It will be a very tough game for them as Wolfsburg have a good record at home.

At home against West Ham again they didn’t score nor did they look good going forward. That said, they are still in the hunt as they are only three points off top spot. The fans have been used to their side playing good football. They have been spoilt over the years when you look back at some of the players and teams they have had. If they get the right result on Wednesday, it will be an ok opening quarter to the season for them without playing particularly well. If they do get knocked out though, with the money they have spent, it will be a huge blow.

Arsenal will look back at opening two games and regret not playing Petr Cech

Arsenal also have it all to do this week. They have to go to Greece and win by two goals against Olympiakos. If the worst happens for them, they’ll look back at their opening two games and regret not playing Petr Cech. He was a great signing for them so to not play him in the opening two games where you should be looking to make a statement and get points on the board, was bemusing. If they don’t qualify they’ll be looking back and thinking, if only.

Leicester have been nothing short of sensational

It wasn’t to be for Jamie Vardy this weekend as he failed to make it 12 in a row but in a way it summed up what has been great about Leicester this season. Vardy has been the one to steal all the headlines but there have been other stand-out performers and this time it was Mahrez who stepped up with a hat-trick. Leicester have been nothing short of sensational. Their next league game is against Chelsea. If Leicester were to win that game, Chelsea could be in the bottom three this time next week. Leicester have played with no fear and they are scoring plenty of goals. Without doubt a breath of fresh air.

Watford not getting the headlines they deserve

Another club which should be applauded this season is Watford. They are sat comfortably in the league table after being promoted from the Championship. They have had a huge turnover in players over the summer but they have come out and been superb. Normally promoted clubs aim to reach 40 points which is usually enough to keep them in the league. They are well on course for doing that but are not getting the headlines they deserve because of Leicester’s successes.

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