There will never be another Leicester. But this may just be the season of another mid-table upstart breaking the hegemony of the Big Six and qualifying for Europe.
Sunday’s Premier League chaos at Elland Road, St James’ Park and the London Stadium was fascinating, frenetic and thoroughly enjoyable – but also an early sign of the sort of mayhem we can expect from a campaign that will be chopped up and changed immeasurably by the looming winter World Cup.
Even before a ball was kicked this season, sports science teams and personal trainers were pulling together plans to ensure the best of the best navigate their way through what most feel are two seasons in one.
But perhaps we all were guilty of ignoring a pack of smart clubs coached by bright young managers who were ready to spring from the mid-table pack and challenge the elite?
How else do you judge early season results that have hinted at real gains being made by Crystal Palace, Brighton, Brentford, Newcastle and Leeds United – all clubs plotting interesting paths to overturn the huge advantage the traditional heavyweights enjoy in terms of finance and recent Champions League history.
Brighton have absorbed the loss of Marc Cucurella to take seven points from a testing first three games. But anyone familiar with the stellar work of Graham Potter in recent years will not be surprised.
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Newcastle may be powered by money that comes from a controversial source but Eddie Howe is implementing a culture change at St James’ Park. Their performance against Manchester City, who looked invincible in their first two games, should make the elite sit up and take notice.
And finally Leeds are reaping rewards for having a plan to evolve from Marcelo Bielsa and bounce back from losing their two best players. The diligent Jesse Marsch is quickly winning around the doubters.
Compare and contrast with the flabby mess at Manchester United, Villa’s lack of direction or Everton scrabbling around for signings to avoid another battle with relegation.
If only those clubs – along with a Chelsea who look flush with cash but uneasy under the shadow of the growing pains of new ownership – could match the smart, inventive and focused thinking of the early season upstarts.
The question is: are those gains sustainable? Well if there was ever a season for one of those clubs to mount a challenge for the top six or beyond, this is surely it. Just look at the frankly weird fixture list.
The season meanders at the start, free midweeks for the big clubs in August, before a second half of the campaign when all hells breaks loose as League Cup, Champions League and Premier League fixtures are all crammed into a period when players will return from the World Cup.
Sports science teams know this will test them. Just last month Andre Cuhna, Gabriel Jesus’ personal trainer, revealed to i the extensive plans they have made to cope with this season. Judging by his early season form, they are having some success.
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Indeed the season will reward those who have made the smartest allowances for it – but even the best laid plans are going to be tested by the unknown factor of players preparing and then returning from Qatar either exhausted, injured or demoralised.
Those conditions could create a perfect storm: challengers emerging from the mid-table wastelands with bright, inventive coaches who are building on sound foundations laid over months not weeks combining with the strangest fixture list in living memory.
The top four might be a push for the bolters – only Leicester have muscled in on a top four that has been annexed by Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City in the last 17 years – but the top six or seven looks wide open. Europe beckons for those who dare to dream.
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