5 surprises from the Premier League season's opening month
With five matches in the bag, what was anticipated as one of the most compelling campaigns in Premier League history has most certainly lived up to the billing.
As top-tier sides prepare for midweek League Cup action, here's a look at five surprises after five fixtures, as the unexpected continues to rule England's top flight:
Etienne Capoue
From zero goals in 33 Premier League starts last season to four in five matches, Capoue has emerged as Watford's biggest goal threat, and for good reason. Traditionally positioned in a deeper midfield hole, the Toulouse product has benefited from Walter Mazzari's tinkering.
Last season, Quique Sanchez Flores opted for a 4-4-2, where the brunt of the scoring came from strike tandem Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney. The pair bagged 28 league goals between them - accounting for 62 percent of the Hornets' tallies - and the promoted side limped across the line in 13th place.
Upon arrival in the summer, Mazzari ditched that formation, adopting a fluid 3-5-2, where Jose Holebas and Daryl Janmaat have free reign on the flanks, and Capoue is in a midfield triangle with Valon Behrami and Roberto Pereyra. With Behrami content to sit deep, Capoue is afforded the luxury to push forward. He was the best player on the pitch during Sunday's 3-1 victory over Manchester United, and with a quartet of goals, is second in the league behind Diego Costa and Michail Antonio.
Everton
With each stunning Toffees display, Roberto Martinez's reputation takes another hit. With just five matches under his Everton belt, Ronald Koeman has transformed the Merseysiders from an attack-first, defend if you must set-up to one of continuity.
Rumours of laissez faire management practices and a jaundiced dressing room under the Catalan coach aside, Koeman has flipped the atmosphere at Goodison Park into one of diligence and defensive displays.
Full-back Seamus Coleman has taken notice, saying, "Koeman expects people to work hard, he expects his forwards to work hard, and he demands respect from everyone and that is what you want from your boss."
Idrissa Gueye's signing is quietly the league's most influential move, as the former Aston Villa ball stopper pairs with Gareth Barry to stellar results, and Romelu Lukaku appears a man possessed, scoring four times in five matches as he looks to eclipse last season's 18-goal standard.
Paul Pogba
It's not Pogba's fault he was a world-record signing, and by the same token, it's not his fault Jose Mourinho is inexplicably opting for ineffective tactics.
Positioned in a two-man midfield alongside footballing impostor Marouane Fellaini, Pogba languishes in a role he's not suited to play, as Mourinho continues to hamper the club by starting Wayne Rooney in a central playmaking spot.
With heavy-footed Rooney flanked by two wingers in support of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United is forced to employ Pogba and the Belgian puffy-haired purveyor of positional pointlessness as a buffer in front of the backline, and after three losses on the trot in all competitions, it's become a painfully poor plan.
Against Watford, save for a shot that struck the bar, Pogba was a passenger, making a scant 32 passes at a 76 percent success rate as play passed him by. He and Fellaini did little to support the back four, and his positioning on Juan Zuniga's goal was atrocious.
Crystal Palace
Last season, Crystal Palace narrowly escaped relegation by a five-point margin, and even the untrained eye could have discerned that was courtesy of an impotent attack.
Scott Dann, Yohan Cabaye, Yannick Bolasie, and Connor Wickham finished joint-top on five goals apiece, as the Eagles struggled mightily sans a bona fide striker. What's changed? Addition through subtraction, as Bolasie has since left for Everton, and Alan Pardew rescued Christian Benteke from Jurgen Klopp's doghouse. The difference is startling.
Without Bolasie, the club is far less reliant on attacks down the flanks, and the lack of predictability has benefited the Croyden crew. A 4-1 drubbing of Stoke City is an early-season high point as Benteke's fits the profile of a robust point-man, while Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha vacillate between probing runs and whipping in crosses for a side that boasts a bounty of height in its ranks.
Stoke City
When Mark Hughes arrived at the Britannia, he molded a stodgy defensive outfit in Tony Pulis' image into one that favoured pace and panache. Marko Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri starred for a side that attacked down the flanks, and Bojan, when healthy, added some creativity to an outfit that was once repulsed by it.
Fast forward to the 2016-17 campaign, and Hughes' focus has taken away from Stoke's identity, and frankly put, the Potters are a defensive nightmare. Having conceded four goals in four of its last six league matches, Stoke sits bottom with one point to show for its efforts.
On the heels of a ninth-placed finish, Stoke has allowed 14 goals to three scored, assuming the role of the league's worst side to the delight of West Ham. Time to print up a few CV's, Mr. Hughes.