First Impressions and Second Thoughts

I was THISclose to having a pretty strong weekend.  But for Kolo Toure's penalty I would have had an extra 15 points (between Hart and Kompany) or so and been in solid position in 2nd or 3rd in my private group with Jeremy, Nik (the Assistant Manager), and assorted other friends and friends-of-friends. For a moment as I watched the textcast unfold on BBC.com (while watching Villa/Everton) I even had thoughts of Hart making the PK save and having a massive weekend but it wasn't to be.  Instead the weekend ended bittersweet at best.  Here's a recap of what I observed about the actual Premier League as well as the fantasy Premier League:



The Title Race

• The Champs - Chelsea weren't as good as they have been in dispatching Stoke at Stamford Bridge but in my mind it is more of a signal of how good they've been that a 2-0 win where they should have had a third but for Lamps missing a PK is viewed as a bit on the disappointing side.  They still haven't faced off with a team who all agree is likely to finish in the top half of the table but they continue to do what they need to with the also-rans of the league.  
• The Emerging Contenders - Is it possible that even three weeks in we are going to realize that there are only going to be two legitimate challengers to Chelsea's title ambitions.  Arsenal got the full 3 points against an opponent and a manager that they have had a lot of trouble with in the past.  Big Sam's Bolton teams made lives miserable for Wenger's boys and Hughes' Rovers did the same so it stood to reason that the combination of Big Sam with Rovers was likely to give them some trouble but despite some questionable defending (both on the goal and some unpunished instances).  ManYoo was somewhat less remarkable in beating down a completely over-matched West Ham side but they did what they had to at home to remain in the conversation.
• The Chase for Fourth - I was expecting Spurs loss to Wigan to be the obvious headline here and I certainly don't intend to diminish it but Citeh's late loss to Sunderland is equally enlightening to followers of the title chase.  If either team were going to seriously contend for the title, they needed to get at least one if not all three points from matches like these where they clearly aren't at their best.  Villa re-introduced themselves into the chase for 4th by picking up their second win of the season but I have to say it's hard to take them TOO seriously right now with the 6-0 thrashing by the Magpies still fresh in our minds.

Elsewhere in the Table

• The Wolves Story - As frequent readers know, I've talked myself into Wolves as the non-Arsenal team I'm supporting/expecting to outperform what people are expecting of them and so far, so good.  Three matches into the season and they're still unbeaten.  The emergence of Sylvan Ebanks-Blake as viable striking option (he already has as many goals as all of last season) and the re-acquisition of Mancienne make the story better and there's still upside to come as Hunt and Fletcher return to health.  Kitson and Sidwell are still available though, just saying...
• Fulham Road Point - It didn't happen too often last season where Fulham only scored 12 road goals but they got two goals away from home to pick up a point.  I'll grant you it was Blackpool but Dembele looked really good and Fulham scrapped and got the point late.  Can they count on Etuhu saving them with goals regularly? I don't think so but they'll take it when they can get it.
• Bolton Backbone - Down 2 goals and one man to a team with at least equal talent you certainly didn't expect much of a fight from Bolton but they scraped and clawed and made their way back for a draw.  They were probably hoping for 3 points from this match at the beginning of the day but after the way the first half unfolded, they have to be thrilled with a point in retrospect.  If I hadn't already been captivated by the Wolves story, Bolton would likely be my non-Arsenal story to follow.  I'm enjoying the transformation from Big Sam's Bolton into Owen Coyle's Bolton who really try to play an attractive style but still have some brute force options like Kevin Davies to compliment the emerging finesse.  Throw in a good young American playing a key role in Stuart Holden and I'm hoping things go well at the Reebok.
• Blackpool Competence - So, everyone who was thinking that Blackpool would be tied in the standings with Liverpool after 3 weekends of action raise your hands.  Anyone with their hand up is a liar.  Blackpool aren't going to win anything this season but they have certainly served notice that the rumors of their immediate relegation have been greatly exaggerated.  The thing is, there isn't the same feeling of incredulity that you had when Hull had a similarly surprising start a couple of years back.  This feels more solid.  Here's hoping it continues.  For all those who were stacking their line-up against Blackpool, you might want to consider moving to "against West Ham" on the early evidence.  

The Players

• Kevin Nolan vs. Joey Barton - A late yellow card sullied his performance slightly but Joey Barton outperformed Kevin Nolan 10.5 to 6 in Saturday's draw for Newcastle.  This is exactly why I picked Barton over Nolan.  Nolan's brace last weekend got the big headlines but Barton will have the better stats on the weekends that Nolan doesn't score.
• Mr. Steady - Speaking of inexpensive midfielders, it would appear that Charlie Adam has separated himself from the field of other aspirants to the title of "great inexpensive point producer on a bad team" for this season.  As far as the glamorous stats go he only has one assist but he has been between 8 and 12 points in each match so far which have included a win, a loss, and a draw.  Probably a good idea to keep with him. 
• Andy Carroll - I was ready to write the Newcastle striker off as a product of the Championship but he seems to be evolving into a legitimate Premier League striker who managers should keep if they have him cheap.  If you didn't get in early, you should mute your expectations - think of him as a healthy Kenwyne Jones from a couple of years back.  Good deal at a price of 9 with a good match-up but not a "get him at all costs" guy.
• Moussa Dembele - He's listed as a striker but plays more like an attacking midfielder but he plays like a really good attacking midfielder so I'm willing to endorse the experiment for a while to see what Fulham and fantasy managers might have here.  Regardless of his fantasy value, he looks to be a solid buy for Hughes.
• Marouane Chamakh - Hard to know what to make of him so far.  He's had one anonymous match against a good team (@LIV), one strong fantasy performance against an over-matched side (home to Blackpool), and an abbreviated substitute appearance against an OK team (@Rovers).  With Walcott having established himself as a must-start player for Arsenal thus far you have to expect that Chamakh will get more time on the bench to ease into the Prem unless RvP's injury is worse than it looked.  Probably worth waiting to re-insert him into your line-up.
• Wayne Rooney - I'm still not convinced he's back but the PK goal can't hurt him in picking up some momentum.
• Frank Lampard - Did I mention that he's quickly being eclipsed by FloMal as the attacking force in Chelsea's midfield.  He looks sort of like Ballack did when he came to Chelsea - a shadow of his former self and what you'd expect from the reputation.

Those are my observations from the weekend.  Feel free to add yours in the comments section as we try to figure out what we have to look forward to this season in the Premier League.