EPL Weekend Review-- five thoughts

1. Wigan thrashes Aston Villa: Tough to watch this one. As a Villa fan you stay upbeat with the expected exit of Gareth Barry. You take the blow of the injury forced retirement of Martin Laursen. You follow the club in preseason and watch them win some big matches, showcase some young talent and get your hopes up about another contention for the top four. And then Wigan comes in and completely demolishes the club at Villa Park. The performance was beyond shocking with Wigan completely controlling the tempo of match, combining creative offensive bursts with excellent defensive organization. In his first match at Wigan Martinez comes out with a plan that completely outplays and outclasses Villa and Martin O'Neil. I have all the respect in the world for what Martin O'Neil has done for Villa but some of his moves are absolute head scratchers. He seems determined to play a 4-4-2 when the current mix of the club, and the absence of Barry, cries out for a 4-5-1. He compounds that error by insisting on playing Emile Heskey up front with Gabby Agbonlahor. Where in the world is John Carew? With the absence of Barry and the glaring hole in the midfield the 4-5-1 is beyond obvious. Let's jam up the midfield a bit and allow the wide players to get wide. Let's not put Fabian Delph in a position where he's forced to debut in the center of the midfield with so much space. Beyond that is there anyone, anywhere who would prefer Emile Heskey over John Carew. Carew is an absolute difference maker. Please Martin, please play a 4-5-1 and get Carew as a lone striker. Let's let the pacy midfielders get an opportunity to make things happen. More importantly let's fill some of the gaps left by the loss of Laursen and Barry.

2. Arsenal-- Holy Crap: Here in the states the third game, after the surprise ESPN2 match and the Villa debacle was the Arsenal destruction of Everton. Who saw this one coming? It's been said before by many and will be said again, but when Arsenal are on their form they're absolute joy to watch, whether you're a Gunner fan, an neutral (me) or can't stand them. It's a young club, as usual, but if they stay healthy they'll clearly be in the top four and may challenge for the top spot. The midfield depth and talent of the club, with Arshavin now full in the mix, is breathtaking. The club that I think has to be a little demoralized by it's performance is Manchester City who probably had their eyes on Arsenal finishing closer to the pack due to last year's performance. As far as the other club, Everton, you really have to feel sorry for them. All David Moyes wants to do is to continue to build on the last couple of years and keep his club in tact, except Manchester City just won't quit their attempt to get Joleon Lescott. I watched Everton in the states versus the MLS all-stars a couple of weeks back and against Arsenal on Saturday. They surely do not look like a 5th place EPL club. Granted they are without Arteta who makes such a difference in the midfield.

3. Why Keep Lescott? It's beyond me why David Moyes is so obsessed with holding on to Lescott. He's a fine player but clearly not worth the amount of money that City is willing to pay for him. He's 27 years old and City wants to pay as much as 20 million pounds? Are you kidding me? Take the money and buy two or three young players. With the value of the pound and the amount they are overvaluing Lescott there are capable replacements in other leagues around the world that can step in and provide close to what Lescott provides. The player isn't happy and it's going to effect his performance, the reaction of the fans and potentially even the chemistry in the locker room. Why hold on to him?

4. Future England goaltenders duel? Interesting match at Old Trafford between Birmingham City and Manchester United featuring Joe Hart and Ben Foster, both speculated as potential future England number ones. The 26-year-old Foster was awful shaky in the Community Shield but was solid yesterday, granted with little activity. He made one nice save and handled the ball well, which was his drawback last week. Sir Alex seems to think that Foster is a candidate to be number one for next year's World Cup and time will tell, but for me the real story yesterday was Joe Hart. The 22-year-old Hart has long been called the goaltender of the future for England and has over 20 caps for under 21 England. Unfortunately he's had trouble getting playing time for Manchester City and on various loans over the past few years. Now on loan at Birmingham City he has a number one position and yesterday was absolutely fantastic. Hart made 11 saves yesterday with a couple of them borderline world class, keeping City in a match that could have easily been 3-0 (or 4-0 if Darren Fletcher could hit the broad side of a barn).

5. Manchester City- not too shabby: You have to give a lot of credit to Mark Hughes for organizing all his new players and putting a cohesive squad on the pitch this weekend. There was a lot of speculation on what type of lineup he'd put together with all the offensive signings the club has made in the offseason. In the end he started with a pretty conventional 4-4-2 with Barry and Ireland in the center midfield, Robinho and Wright-Phillips on the wings and Bellamy and Adebayor up front. Granted the injuries to Tevez (who came on as a sub) and Santa Cruz helped Hughes make the decision a bit easier. Still it isn't the offensive attack that people are doubting, it's the defensive side where Kolo Toure made a solid debut and helped form a good combo with Richard Dunne in the center defense. City were impressive, more impressive that I thought. They also earned a road victory which wasn't that common last season.