Premier League Review - scale of Guardiola task revealed by Southampton defeat as Leicester keep their calm

Southampton defeat shows extent of job for Guardiola

It was a compendium of all the usual problems for Manchester City, and it makes it clear that this is the biggest task Pep Guardiola has taken on in his managerial career. In his favour is that things have become so poor for Manchester City that there will be some obvious, easy changes to make.

The defence is slow, and without Vincent Kompany around it is devoid of intelligence. Kompany cannot be expected to be fit for more than half of the games in a season, so realistically Guardiola should want six new defenders.

The players have no gumption, and as Joe Hart is vulnerable on his left side and prone to conspicuous bouts of ineffective leadership, it wouldn’t be unfair to replace him with a more level-headed presence. As well as that, dumping Yaya Toure along with Hart will mean that some real leaders are required. Mature and inspiring players, to compensate for the utter lack of conviction in the squad, and it appears, with the current manager. It is hardly surprising that Manuel Pellegrini, happy with his status as a dead man walking, is even less of an engaging presence than he was a year ago.

While it is true that this was a largely second choice City side, that should provide little comfort. Guardiola’s time at Bayern has been marked by a chronic injury list, so City will need to provide him with an extensive squad that can be used. Fabian Delph and Aleksandr Kolarov are not the players for that. The problem here is that the executives in charge of recruitment are also responsible for bringing Guardiola to the club, so it seems unlikely they will be going anywhere. It’s worth remembering how poor Guardiola’s transfers were at Barcelona, so that is another obstacle to overcome.

Fourth place, with a disinterested squad and a growing sense of diminishing returns among the fans, and only Sergio Aguero who is a truly world class player. Guardiola has plenty of work to do already, as the pathetic display at Southampton showed.

Leicester continue to stay calm under pressure

Somehow, Leicester were unable to exploit the utter disarray that Manchester United are in after Memphis unfollowed some people on his Twitter or Instagram. Missing Jamie Vardy, United were relatively comfortable in defence, or as comfortable as a defence with Marcos Rojo in can be. Rojo’s selection is as baffling as Louis van Gaal’s continued presence is. Neither deserves their current position, but neither has a boss willing to do anything about that.

The focus, understandably, was not on Rojo, Van Gaal, or even Memphis’ social media activities. Instead, many were waiting for a Leicester victory and title win. A draw might feel like a failure in some respects, with the momentum they have and the expectation that their success is a matter of time more than effort. But they should not panic. They have done enough, just as they have done just enough at other times when things weren’t quite so easy. They’ve had late winners, and they’ve dealt with suspensions before. They have two easy games left. Stay calm, and they will claim the title at Everton, assuming Spurs do not throw it away against Chelsea.

Relegation-threatened sides get a kick in the teeth

It is a tiresome truism that nothing goes your way when you’re down in the relegation zone, but nevertheless it holds some weight. Usually, that’s because when you’re down in the relegation, it’s because you’re not very good, and therefore marginal decisions and chances will go against you, because your opponents will deal with them better. However, this weekend was a time when little went right for those in the relegation zone because so little went wrong.

Norwich drew 0-0 against an Arsenal side set on proving the protesters correct. It was a vital point, and might have helped ease their concerns, having been dragged into the relegation battle with Sunderland and Newcastle. The problem is that Sunderland managed a last-minute penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw at Stoke City. Both of these results would have been welcomed in advance by their supporters, only Newcastle ruined that by sealing a victory over Alan Pardew (the team he was managing yesterday was irrelevant, it was the hatred of Pardew that mattered). Even when all three sides managed to go undefeated, all of them will feel like they’ve done little else but tread water.

Marouane Fellaini was right to elbow Robert Huth

Marouane Fellaini should have been banned when he clattered Emre Can in the face in the Europa League, but somehow escaped a ban. It should, admittedly, be little surprise if UEFA are incompetent, but it appeared a clear cut case of violent conduct. It wasn’t the first time he’d acted similarly - he was sent off for a two-footed tackle on the last day of the season against Hull, and he stamped on Lucas Leiva in another anti-Liverpool offensive.

It is completely fair to paint Fellaini as a coward, happy to risk breaking legs but not to actually physically intimidate players with his own size. He has been lucky not to miss more games through his indiscipline. However, if you hear calls for a ban for elbowing Robert Huth in the face, ignore them. If somebody pulls another player’s hair, for God’s sake, then the very least they deserve is an elbow to the face.

Jurgen Klopp’s season now rests on Europa League hopes

In the aftermath of the Hillsborough inquest, it is hard to imagine that many fans, or others associated with Liverpool, will be desperately fussed about losing to Swansea or, indeed, to Villarreal earlier towards the end of last week. However, when the emotion settles in the coming weeks, Liverpool should hope that they will not have squandered what has recently appeared to be a promising season’s end. With Manchester City and Arsenal stumbling, fourth place was just about in touching distance as Liverpool hit their stride under Jurgen Klopp. The chance to win a Europa League would not just have been an opportunity to win some silverware, but would have been a back door to the Champions League.

Klopp has a problem, though. Without Can, Henderson and Sakho, he is missing three of his most important players. He appears to have abandoned any hope of succeeding in the Premier League by consistently playing a second-string side in recent weeks. It’s a considered and sensible risk to take, but will only be fully vindicated if he succeeds against Villarreal. Because of injuries, and the suspension of Mamadou Sakho, that is now in serious doubt. They will need the assistance of the crowd to spur them on to avoid further disappointment.