Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman, appeared at the back of the press room as José Mourinho sat down to face the post-match questions about Chelsea’s latest defeat of Arsenal and deliver an official bulletin on the health of Thibaut Courtois. Mourinho explained that the early news was encouraging and Courtois did not seem to have any lasting repercussions from a whack to the head that had left him flat out, eyes closed, in the kind of pose more usually seen in a boxing ring, only to play on for another 13 minutes before anyone from his club apparently realised it could be serious. The Chelsea manager was asked to go through the club’s decision-making and said he was not involved in the discussions with the medical staff but fully trusted them to get it right. But then the questioning hardened and it was put to him that Chelsea had potentially risked their player, especially when there had been so much publicity recently about head injuries in sport.  Mourinho listened to the question but his’s demeanour was of a man who did not really want to get involved and, by the end, he looked the other way. “Nothing to say on that,” he said. Perhaps that was the strategy: say as little as possible about the precise chain of events and how it fell in line, or not, with the rules the Football Association brought in at the start of the season for treating players with head injuries. And perhaps that is why Buck chose to make one of his appearances at the press conference. Yet it did feel unsatisfactory and Chelsea really ought to provide a more detailed explanation given that the first instinct of so many people inside Stamford Bridge was that it was madness to expect Courtois to continue when, if this were a cartoon, there were would have been stars and tweeting birds circling his head. Unfortunately it was real life and, at the very least, it seems remarkable (and, granted, many of us are making judgments without medical qualifications) that, within 56 seconds, he had gone from being on his back to being checked over and then passed fit when Chelsea could have been permitted to take much longer. The new rules state that if there is the likelihood of concussion, players should be taken off. It was unmistakable shock on the faces of the medical staff when Courtois suffered his relapse and a line of blood could be seen coming from his ear.  After that, the speed at which everyone moved told its own story. Courtois seems to be OK bar concussion but the mind goes back to the Hugo Lloris case and the criticism that was directed towards André Villas-Boas for sending Tottenham’s goalkeeper back on the pitch after he had suffered concussion during a game at Everton. Headway, the brain-injury charity, had described it as displaying an “irresponsible and cavalier attitude” and if the FA are as serious as they say about these kind of cases they really ought to be making it their business to find out precisely what happened. Daniel Taylor  When the Premier League reconvenes after the international break, Louis van Gaal will have a Manchester United squad bristling with players and competition keen to maintain momentum by claiming a third consecutive win in the trip to West Bromwich Albion. The injury crisis that had 10 players crocked at one point should have eased. Jonny Evans, Michael Carrick, Phil Jones, Ander Herrera, Chris Smalling and Ashley Young should be in contention again. When the emerging Paddy McNair, Tyler Blackett and James Wilson are factored in the Dutchman, as he stated following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Everton, will have the tricky yet good problem all managers want: who to leave out. Ahead of the meetings with Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal – three of United’s four opponents following West Brom – this augurs well. Jamie Jackson  Inevitably the focus was on Yaya Touré after he scored his first goal in the league this season to help Manchester City see off Aston Villa. Yet that should not overshadow the importance of David Silva’s performance after City had changed to a 4-3-3 formation. The opposition are always in trouble when Silva keeps popping up in those little pockets of space on the edge of the area and suddenly the Spaniard was everywhere: always probing, always thinking, always trying to find a way through. There was a brilliant moment when Vincent Kompany had the ball in Villa’s half and Silva darted across to take it off him. My ball! That is the thing about Silva. He never hides. He always wants the ball and he always takes responsibility. Other players of his type who do not contribute as much should be made to watch videos of Silva and see how he does it. Jacob Steinberg  Brendan Rodgers is confident Daniel Sturridge will be ready for action again after the international break and is equally convinced Liverpool can get back to their best once he has a full squad from which to choose. He still has no Luis Suárez, of course, though anyone suggesting Liverpool might struggle to reach the heights of last season without the mercurial Uruguayan is referred to the 3-0 victory at Tottenham in August, when his side appeared to have no difficulty in dominating confident and highly-rated opponents. Mario Balotelli made his debut in that game but did not get on the score-sheet. More of a worry is that in seven appearances since, he has scored just once, against Ludogorets in the Champions League.  Not only is Balotelli unlikely to prove as prolific as Suárez – that would be a tall order for almost anyone – he also seems to be struggling to fit in with Liverpool’s style of play, hence Rodgers’s suggestion that he might promote Steven Gerrard to a more forward position to try to form a more effective link with the striker. This seems rather an admission that Balotelli is out-of-step, and on the evidence of Saturday, Rickie Lambert will not be an effective option either. When Sturridge returns to partner Raheem Sterling, Liverpool will once again have a couple of quick and direct forwards capable of making runs behind a defence. That is the way Liverpool want to play and the style that brought them so much success last year. Where Balotelli fits into the thinking is not yet clear. He perhaps did not deserve to be a scapegoat after the defeat in Basel, he received very little service and saw few chances created, though only making the bench against West Brom with Sturridge still out injured was hardly the best augury for the future. Paul Wilson  How would you like it if you turned up at your place of work and – week in, week out – were abused by those who were supposed to support you? For Alan Pardew, every match is now like a scene from Groundhog Day with the ritual baiting by the fans of the Newcastle United manager showing no signs of ending soon. It is at home and away, too. Full marks to the thousands who made the 700-mile trip to Swansea and back on Saturday but what purpose was served by constantly calling for Pardew’s head whenever the team’s fortunes took a turn for the worse? It is like a physical form of tweeting, where a stream of insults can be hurled under the cloak of individual or collective anonymity. It is just shabby exhibitionism. And when it starts to affect the players – as Newcastle striker Papiss Cissé intimated afterwards – the chants become even less relevant. Pardew is not everyone’s cup of ‘Newkie Brown’ – nor ‘London Pride’, for that matter – but with owner Mike Ashley’s record of hiring, would a Pardew replacement be much better? The Geordie hordes should be careful what they wish for. Russell Kempson  Jack Rodwell cost £10m from Manchester City, Jordi Gómez came on a free transfer from Wigan Athletic but the former Barcelona academy graduate showed precisely why Gus Poyet selected him ahead of the erstwhile England midfielder for Saturday’s 3-1 win against Stoke. Wigan’s reigning player of the season brought a welcome degree of control and creativity to Sunderland’s midfield while also creating Steven Fletcher’s first goal courtesy of a well calibrated cross. Poyet has a selection dilemma ahead of the trip to Southampton on Saturday week. Louise Taylor  Managers get criticised for bland speak but quite why Nigel Pearson had to have such a go at Sean Dyche’s Burnley after Saturday’s 2-2 draw was puzzling. The Leicester City manager came into his post-match press conference all bright and breezy but, unprompted, started digging out their fellow Premier League newcomers. He criticised Burnley for not “coming here to play any fluid football” in what “felt like a Championship game”. He added: “We’re better than we were last season and I don’t think Burnley are as good as they were on today’s performance.”  The fact that injury has deprived Burnley of Sam Vokes and Danny Ings, who scored 41 goals during their promotion campaign, as well the quality of playmaker David Jones might contribute to Dyche’s team being determined to play compact and with resolve. Pearson should look more to why his team dropped so deep and offered Burnley a chance to come on to them before he starts picking on other freshly promoted sides trying to find their feet at the new level. It is not as if Leicester are so much better than Burnley that they can afford to scoff, and when Pearson started ranting at a reporter for a soft question, it suggested the pressure of failing to beat a depleted bottom-of-the-table side was starting to get to him. There will be sterner tests ahead. Peter Lansley  Steve Bruce may not be one for statistical small talk or Prozone patter but can call upon that essential managerial tool: a keen eye for what will work. In 235 career appearances prior to joining Hull, Mohamed Diamé mustered just 16 goals; in the four appearances since, he has contributed three. This is no coincidence. Though his dexterity and power are obvious, it is Bruce who has found a way of incorporating him into a settled side and it is Bruce who is extracting the most from his talent. Protected by Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone, he has the freedom to take risks and commit to attack in a way largely denied him hitherto. Already, the £3.5m signing looks a bargain. Daniel Harris  For the first time in five Premier League matches, Tottenham Hotspur kept a clean sheet. And for the first time in five Premier League matches, they won. The two variables are not unrelated. There was cheer for Mauricio Pochettino in the form of the 1-0 win over Southampton, his former club, and what pleased him the most were the signs of understanding among his defenders. It was not perfect. Younès Kaboul, the captain, sliced one clearance early in the second-half to Victor Wanyama and was bailed out by a reflex save from Hugo Lloris, while there was a break-down in the 84th minute when Sadio Mané was left unmarked in front of goal. Somehow, the Southampton forward could not finish. But Tottenham generally kept their in-form visitors at arm’s length with Kaboul, the error apart, was in imposing mood. The downside was the injury to Kyle Naughton, who had made a few important interventions when he was caught by Ryan Bertrand and forced off. It looked like a bad one and Naughton departed the stadium on crutches, his right ankle in a protective boot. Naughton has played his best football for Tottenham this season and with Kyle Walker a long-term injury casualty, the club will most likely rely upon the 20-year-old summer signing from Sporting Lisbon, Eric Dier, at right-back over the coming weeks. Dier’s preferred position is centre-half. David Hytner  “We haven’t got goalscorers in the side. We’ve got creative players, people who make opportunities, and they’ll all chip in with a couple of goals a season but you need to know whether your strikers can give you 20 goals a season. Or you need a Frank Lampard-type of midfielder who will get into double figures, and we haven’t got enough of them.” Not Harry Redknapp after QPR’s dismal capitulation at Upton Park on Sunday, but Kevin Bond, his assistant, after QPR failed to score for the fourth time in five games in December last year.  It is why Redknapp’s protestations that “We’re short of goals and we’re short of goalscorers. We lost Loïc Rémy right on the deadline and couldn’t get a replacement” doesn’t really hold water. Goals were a problem for his side all last season – it very nearly cost them promotion – so laying the blame on the lack of striking options is beginning to wear very thin. It has been an issue for more than a year. Rémy, given his contractual situation, was always likely to leave. Redknapp had to bring in reinforcements earlier or, perhaps more to the point right now, he needs to find a way of playing that doesn’t leave his lone striker utterly isolated.  At Upton Park he looked to solve the team’s defensive weaknesses by employing Karl Henry and Sandro in central midfield. They are two fine attack dogs, but neither possesses much creative spark. Niko Kranjcar looked lost on the left side of midfield. Leroy Fer, playing as a kind of all-action trequartista, could not get in the game. Last season, employing Clint Hill and Aaron Hughes as the full-backs restricted their attacking width. With Armand Traoré and Nedum Onuoha in those positions on Sunday, the same problems existed. QPR’s issue is not just a lack of top-quality striker. Their problem lies in Redknapp’s recruitment and how he sets up the team. Either he needs a re-think. Or QPR do. John Ashdown
Guardian writers: Chelsea need to clarify Courtois situation, Silva service is sublime, and Liverpool are struggling to adapt to Balotelli