Five Things: Man City boss should grow up, Liverpool forward deserves better, West Ham United in a pickle

Sterling
Sterling

There’s just 12 games to play in the Premier League and despite Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 draw at Burnley it’s difficult to imagine Manchester City not winning this season’s title.

Raheem’s Sterling’s shocking miss gave the Clarets the chance to secure an undeserved point, but Pep Guardiola’s side still hold a 13 point lead over Manchester United.

Read on for our five big talking points from the latest round of games.

Grow up Guardiola

Pep Guardiola named just six substitutes for Manchester City’s visit to Burnley on Saturday to supposedly highlight the effect bad tackles by opponents are having on his squad.

Former Manchester United star Gary Neville led the criticism of Guardiola’s actions, saying: “If you’re the Academy or reserve team manager at Manchester City, you must think ‘I’m wasting my time’.

Neville was spot on with his assessment. This was a golden opportunity to give a youngster the opportunity to gain valuable experience with the first team and the City boss decided it was more important to make a rather pathetic point. Childish in the extreme.

Salah deserves a bigger club

Mohamed Salah’s double against Tottenham Hotspur took his tally to 28 goals this season, but the Egyptian forward must be frustrated at the mediocrity around him.

Spurs were full value for their point at Anfield, although they will rue the fact that Harry Kane missed one of the two late penalties they were awarded.

Liverpool’s starting midfield for this game was James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Emre Can. They had a £75 million defender behind that who can’t really defend. A player of Salah’s ability deserves better.

West Ham in a pickle

It’s fair to say it hasn’t been a great week for West Ham United.

Knocked out of the FA Cup at Wigan Athletic last week, with Arthur Masuaku sent off for spitting, they endured a disappointing deadline day and were then forced to sack head of recruitment Tony Henry over his controversial comments about African players.

The Hammers’ 3-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday left them just three points above the relegation zone and odds of 6/1 to be relegated look hugely tempting.

Carvalhal working his magic at Swansea

Carlos Carvalhal’s sacking at Sheffield Wednesday surprised many people, although their loss has definitely been Swansea City’s gain.

Victories over Liverpool and Arsenal took the Swans out of the bottom three and they were good value for their 1-1 draw at Leicester City on Saturday.

A section of Wednesday fans turned on Carvalhal towards the end of his time at Hillsborough, but they’ve won just once in the league since he was sacked. As the old saying goes – be careful what you wish for.

Sanchez and United the perfect combo

Alexis Sanchez received plenty of criticism for the manner of his departure from Arsenal, but he already looks totally at home with Manchester United.

Sanchez continually tried to make things happen against Huddersfield Town on Saturday, despite being kicked from pillar to post throughout the game..

It’s still early days, but the Chilean international could be the catalyst for another period of United success.

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