Showing posts with label The Premiership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Premiership. Show all posts

Tuesday, 15 August 2023

What have we learned after the first round of Premier League fixtures

Last night we saw Manchester United play Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final match of the first round of Premiership results. Given different clubs are at different stages of fitness, have different priorities and some are still trying to finish their pre season business. It may well be that come the closing of the transfer window, some teams have rather different squads. So what have we learned?

Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United all learned that the Premiership is a rather different beast to the Championship. All suffered difficult starts. Burnley drew the short straw playing Manchester City. Vincent Kompany said before the match that it would be their worst performance of the season. Luton got battered by Brighton, who despite losing some key players looked excellent, but did at least scored. Sheffield Utd played  Crystal Palace and were lucky to get away with a 1-0. I suspect that all of these teams will be happy to survive come the end of the season. Based on what I saw, Burnley are most likely to stay up. Everton had a difficult start, losing a game that they should have won against Fulham, if that becomes a pattern, they may find themselves in trouble.

As for last years Top four, City and Newcastle look in very good shape. Arsenal looked amazing in patches but Forest came back and Arsenal need to manage games far better if they want to seriously challenge City. United were poor and their midfield looks lightweight. They were lucky not to give away a penalty, although such 'luck' is not unusual for them at Old Trafford. United are screaming out for a decent defensive midfield player. To be so bullied by Wolves at home showed them to be rather lightweight.  Chelsea looked much improved from last season, although that is not saying a lot. Liverpool look to be unbalanced. Brilliant in flashes, but far from solid.

Tottenham entered the post Harry Kane era with a draw at Brentford. A new manager with new ideas. It is hard to really tell too much. They scored two and conceded two. Too early to say how deeply Kane will be missed, as I expect a replacement to be shipped in.

As to the rest of them, hard to say. 

As to the rest of the league, nothing stood out to me. 

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

The Wednesday Poem #26 - Where are the sardines now?

Todays Poem marks the start of Silver Jubilee season with an Ode commemorating the most infamous momemt in Premier League History!

Simmons says he was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'.
Ooh La La, Cantona

Ooh Aah, Oooh La La,
An early bath for Cantona,
Left the field in disgrace, 
then kicked a yobbo in the face,
Scandal headlines in The Sun,
A lengthy ban soon begun,
Up in court before the beaks,
Community Service for a couple of weeks,
Cantona what did you do?
Uniteds hopes were pinned on you!
United's season in disarray,
Us City boys exclaimed Hooray!
Blackburn Rovers won the league,
A single point I do believe,
These days old Eric advertises lager,
United fans recall the saga,
Viewed through the prism of time,
They think old Eric did just fine,
The Seagulls have all now flown,
The Sardines will be left alone,
So long Eric, one thing is true,
We won't see another like you. 
 
Copyright 2017 - Roger Tichborne

Guest Poems always welcome