Man City's rebuild might be beyond Pep Guardiola - if only he still had Jack Grealish! Premier League winners and losers as Everton loanee shines again while Aston Villa replace West Ham as the new crisis club

Somewhere in a parallel universe, Andoni Iraola is in the midst of overseeing his first few matches in charge of Tottenham. The Bournemouth boss was heavily linked with the vacant manager's post in north London following Ange Postecoglou's departure, but Spurs instead went in Thomas Frank's direction as they opted for a slightly more cautious approach following the 'It's just who we are, mate' era.

Frank, of course, had made an excellent start to life at Tottenham after following up almost beating Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup by winning his opening two Premier League matches in charge, the second of which at the Etihad Stadium was mightily impressive. However, he and his team were brought back down to earth on Saturday as Iraola masterminded one of the most one-sided 1-0 wins in recent Premier League history.

Though Evanilson's fifth-minute strike needed a deflection to find the back of the net, it was no more than the Cherries deserved from what was an utterly dominant performance on the road. Bournemouth mustered 20 shots in comparison to Spurs' five as the hosts failed to even win a corner on a chastening day for Frank and his charges.

Iraola, it must be remembered, is managing a squad that lost its goalkeeper, three of its four first-choice defenders and a key forward in Dango Ouattara during the summer window, yet Bournemouth are two late Liverpool goals on the opening day away from having made an unbeaten start to the campaign. The Spaniard is undoubtedly one of the most impressive young coaches in European football, and it is surely only a matter of time before he follows Frank in stepping up to take charge of a Champions League-level club.

A fortnight is a long time in football. Two weeks ago, Manchester City were apparently 'back' after an impressive opening-day win over Wolves. Now, though, they sit in the bottom half of the table following back-to-back defeats, meaning they are already six points off the pace when it comes to the title race.

If last week's loss to Tottenham was a wake-up call for City, then Sunday's collapse at Brighton should be setting alarm bells going at the Etihad campus. Pep Guardiola's side were in complete control for the first hour of the match at the Amex Stadium and looked well on course for victory after Erling Haaland finally found his shooting boots to put them ahead on the south coast. However, the way that they failed to adapt to Fabian Hurzeler's game-changing quadruple substitution midway through the second half was eye-opening to say the least.

All of the frailties of last season's City came rushing back as they were routinely cut apart by the Seagulls, culminating with the sweeping move that was expertly finished off by Brajan Gruda in the 89th minute. Not even the return of Rodri to the Premier League line-up for the first time in almost a year could solve Guardiola's biggest headache, and the Ballon d'Or-winning midfielder went on to call out the "kid's mistakes" made by his team-mates in the closing stages of the game.

Guardiola is expected to welcome Gianluigi Donnarumma into his squad on transfer deadline day, which should in turn help limit the number of goals his side concede, but his outfield rebuild still looks some way short of being complete. He has two weeks to put things right ahead of the Manchester derby on the other side of the international break...

As if to make matters worse for Guardiola, a player whose ability many believe the Catalan shackled during their time together at the Etihad looks to have rediscovered a new lease of life since leaving City.

Jack Grealish made it four assists from his first two starts on loan at Everton in Saturday's win over Wolves in a performance that harked back to the creative genius the England attacker routinely showed during his time at boyhood club Aston Villa. Given the freedom by David Moyes to express himself since joining the Toffees on loan, Grealish's ingenuity and risk-taking has returned to his game, and he has subsequently inspired Everton to back-to-back victories.

The 29-year-old became known as 'the rest station' during his time at City as he was routinely asked to recycle possession under Guardiola. Taking risks was not encouraged, with Grealish instead largely trusted to merely maintain possession before finding a team-mate with a straightforward pass. As a result, his attacking numbers nosedived, and his £100 million price tag proved hard to justify.

Few players needed a summer transfer more than Grealish, and in Everton he seems to have found the ideal landing spot to resurrect his career and perhaps prove he is worth a place in England's World Cup squad. Certainly Thomas Tuchel has left the door open for him to make a Three Lions return, and on current form it would be difficult to argue against Grealish being on the plane this summer.

Last week, Marco Silva came close to self-combusting as he saw a couple of debatable decisions go against Fulham in their draw with Manchester United. With that in mind, his reaction to how his side's defeat at Chelsea played out was totally understandable.

The decision to disallow Josh King's strike in the first half at Stamford Bridge was utterly laughable, and it seems that the PGMOL agreed as they stood VAR Michael Salisbury down from officiating Sunday's blockbuster clash at Anfield due to the error of judgement he made in believing Rodrigo Muniz had fouled Trevoh Chalobah in the build-up to King's effort.

Silva's subsequent touchline explosion was absolutely warranted and almost-certainly led to his further outbursts when Joao Pedro scored late in first-half stoppage time and when Chelsea were awarded a second-half penalty. Neither the decision to play an extended period at the end of the first half nor punish Ryan Sessegnon for handball inside his own penalty area were as egregious as the Muniz call, but both were debatable enough to have Silva hit the roof given what his team have already gone through with officials so far in 2025-26.

We just hope for Silva's sake that he can allow himself some time to settle down over the international break or he's going to do himself a real mischief...

We're not going to lie - we fully expected to come into Monday morning ready to write Graham Potter's West Ham obituary. The Irons had looked feeble in losing their opening two matches of the league season as they conceded eight goals in the process, while a Carabao Cup loss to Wolves in midweek ended with captain Jarrod Bowen clashing with a supporter.

All was clearly not well at the London Stadium, and with a trip to Nottingham Forest next on their schedule, the writing looked to be on the wall for Potter. Sunday's emphatic win at the City Ground, however, has earned the manager a stay of execution and ignited hopes of the Hammers actually enjoying their campaign after all.

Though their three goals came late on against Forest, this was a win that West Ham deserved as they showcased far more defensive stability while offering some threat in attack. The introduction of Crysencio Summerville off the bench then took their threat to new levels, and the ex-Leeds winger played a major role in their opening two goals - scored by Bowen and Lucas Paqueta - before Callum Wilson rounded out the game with his first goal for the club.

Given the further boost of Paqueta committing his future to the club with his celebration amid links to Aston Villa and with a couple more new signings expected before the deadline, things are looking up for Potter and West Ham all of a sudden. And while it's best not to get carried away after just one result, the Premier League crisis club baton has at least been passed on ahead of the international break.

Though Wolves are now the only team left without a Premier League point through three games, it is West Ham's claret-and-blue brethren, Aston Villa, who have emerged as the division's new crisis club after Sunday's shameful 3-0 home loss to Crystal Palace left them sitting 19th heading into the break.

Unai Emery's team were the only side not to score a goal through August, with there a concern that things have gone stale at Villa Park after a summer where Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) have stopped last season's Champions League quarter-finalists from being able to spend big on improving their squad. There was no more perfect illustration of that fact that the almost-forgotten Emiliano Buendia was thrown on at half-time as the player Emery deemed most likely to turn the game around.

All is clearly not well with the Villans, and should Emiliano Martinez leave on deadline day then the dressing room will lose one of its leaders and biggest voices. The Argentina goalkeeper will also need replacing before the window closes, while further signings are required just to freshen up a squad that has largely been together for almost three years now. Whether Victor Lindelof on a free is quite what they need, though, remains to be seen...