Alan Hansen’s Column: Chelsea Impressive, Manchester United Need Ronaldo Back, Newcastle New Boy Terrific, Spurs Lack Balance & Congratulations to Hull

The opening weekend of the Premier League was as per usual full of excitement and shocks but for me the best performance came from Big Phil Scolari’s Chelsea.The boys from the Bridge have been criticised for playing functional football in the past but I wouldn’t go along with that. Fair enough, they may not move the ball around like Arsenal or attack with pace like Manchester United but I’ve always thought they still play football that’s easy on the eye. You would have thought that they’d won the title already after the weekend’s result the way some of the press have gone about it but we have to remember it’s only the first game of a long hard season even though it was a great start.

A lot of people go on about playing attractive football but Scolari himself said at the weekend the main thing is to win. If that means playing ugly then so be it. They certainly didn’t play ugly against Pompey as they produced the most impressive performance of the weekend against a side that is no mugs in Portsmouth. Though I must say Portsmouth were poor on the day. The signing of Deco can be almost regarded as the last piece in the Chelsea jigsaw as he is terrific technically and will give them something extra in midfield. He has the ability to play little balls round the corner and compliments an already excellent team.

Despite Deco’s performance, the most impressive display from a new summer signing had to be Newcastle’s Jonas Gutierrez. The Argentine was terrific against Manchester United. I hadn’t seen too much of this lad but Kevin Keegan seems to have picked up an absolute gem. I liked the way he both attacked and more importantly defended. He had terrific pace, excellent on the ball and worked as hard as anyone on the pitch. This performance was particularly impressive when you consider it was his first Premier League match and it was at away at Old Trafford of all places. Both Gutierrez and his compatriot Fabricio Coloccini performed well. They both looked big, powerful players but in particular Gutierrez stood out above all the new boys due to his display over the weekend.

Much will be made of United’s failure to win against Newcastle but I don’t think Sir Alex Ferguson will be too perturbed by the display. After all, you don’t win the title in the first few months though of course you can lose it. However, they have 3 big away games coming up at Portsmouth, Liverpool and Chelsea so not facing the easiest of starts. They do need Cristiano Ronaldo back sooner rather than later as not only is he a superb player but he also puts fear into the opposition which usually gives United an edge in their matches.

Spurs fans will be feeling a sense of Déjà vu after another opening day defeat, this time at the Riverside. Much has been expected of Tottenham after a busy summer in the transfer market however they proved this weekend that you can have a good eleven players on the pitch but if you don’t have balance to your team then you won’t win. When I looked at Juande Ramos’ midfield quartet you could see there was no holding player. When you have Lennon, Bentley, Modric and Jenas in the side, just who is going to defend? It’s a similar start to last season when they were beaten up at Sunderland under Martin Jol after another good pre-season and they can’t afford to start as poorly this time. Confidence will be low after this result but the mark of a top class player is how they pick themselves up after a defeat so will be interesting what happens against Roy Keane’s Black Cats next weekend. I have predicted a draw as I was impressed with Sunderland against Liverpool as they deserved a point in my opinion. Despite Tottenham not playing well I must say Gareth Southgate’s Middlesbrough team did. He has put together a good young side and they impressed me.

Congratulations to Phil Brown’s Hull side for their display at the weekend, to come from a goal down to win your first ever Premier League game is a terrific result though they have tough challenges to come but on a positive note confidence will be sky high.

It’s no surprise no-one won the jackpot on Premier 10 or Footy 15 at the weekend as even I struggled. The rollover jackpots of £40,000 and £120,000 respectively should be incentive enough to get predicting this weekend. Finally, I would like to end by telling you not to read too much into my current position at the foot of the Football Pools Pundit’s table as we all know…the cream always rises to the top!

Read Tony Cascarino’s Column: Click Here>>

Hear Tony Cascarino’s, Graham Poll’s and the Hull City Chairman’s Views on our Podcast: Click Here>>

Tags: Alan Hansen, Chelsea, footy 15, Hull, Manchester United, Newcastle, Premier 10, Tottenham

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