Click the sign-up box below to receive The Score newsletter every Monday morning this season
The 2024-25 season is underway, and there were handsome wins for new managers in Arne Slot and Fabian Hurzeler at Liverpool and Brighton respectively.
Brighton in particular looked mighty impressive in their victory over Everton, who will already be worrying about another long season.
Manchester City’s title defence got off to the perfect start as they ruined Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca’s first game in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Aston Villa picked up where they left off last season, inflicting a loss on Julen Lopetegui on his West Ham bow thanks to Jhon Duran’s late winner.
Both of the promoted clubs in action lost, with Southampton’s defeat at Newcastle United coming despite playing against 10 men for more than half of the game.
Scroll down for our verdict on every team (listed in table order).
Gameweek 1 results
Friday 16 August
Saturday 17 August
- Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool
- Arsenal 2-0 Wolves
- Everton 0-3 Brighton
- Newcastle 1-0 Southampton
- Nott’m Forest 1-1 Bournemouth
- West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa
Sunday 18 August
- Brentford 2-1 Crystal Palace
- Chelsea 0-2 Man City
Brighton
If you were told at the start of the summer that one Premier League club would appoint a 31-year-old German manager, it would have taken roughly 0.2 seconds for everybody to shout the word “BRIGHTON”. If there was one club who you would back to make a gamble work out well, the same answer. Initial evidence backs up the wisdom of the crowd principle.
We already know what to expect from Fabian Hurzeler. He will use wingers as his principal creative threat and outlets, telling them to stay very high and very wide. Against Everton, Yankuba Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra all got a goal or assist and they are still likely to add Georginio Rutter into the mix. This is as exciting a group of wide players as you can find in the Premier League.
They are also likely to be a little less committed to measured play out from the back than they were under Roberto De Zerbi, based on Saturday. Brighton still had far more of the ball than Everton but seemed to want to get it into midfield more quickly than last season. If anything, that may make them even more exciting.
Progress will never be linear, least of all under a novice manager with a young team that plays risky football. But the biggest change in Brighton from August to April and May will be having a head coach who everybody believes is desperate to be in his current job.
De Zerbi seemed to be attempting to engineer his own promotion, and as such the team’s form suffered (the defensive disorganisation didn’t help). Now there’s a new mood and reinvigoration.
Arsenal
If Bukayo Saka is short of peak fitness after a gruelling summer he didn’t show it in Arsenal‘s Premier League opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Only 34 days have passed since England’s painful 2-1 defeat to Spain in Berlin’s Olympiastadion and Saka would have more reason than most for feeling jaded given he accumulated the sixth-highest number of minutes for the Three Lions in Germany.
And yet he played as though he had spent July with his feet up on a yacht in Mykonos rather than toiling in the latter stages of the Euros.
It’s easy to forget how young Saka is given how consistent he has been over a prolonged period. His Wikipedia page says he is still only 22 (23 in September) and it’s the sort of information that you assume must have been edited by a mischievous user with too much time on their hands. He’s already played 267 matches for club and country.
Despite being staggeringly efficient – only four players have produced more Premier League goals and assists since the start of last season than he has – there remains a sense that Saka is somehow underappreciated outside this patch of north London.
Perhaps it is because the beauty of his game is rooted in simplicity rather than flashiness. Some wingers delight and frustrate in equal measure due to their erratic decision-making; Saka always takes the right option. He drives when there is space to go into and plays a one-two if it needs to be created.
Troublingly for defenders he is developing an Arjen Robben-like knack for producing the same killer move over and over again and reaping the rewards. Saka is writing a similar signature.
Saka’s goal, set up by Kai Havertz, was even better. Rayan Ait-Nouri committed the cardinal sin of showing Saka inside but he still had plenty to do with a sea of gold shirts obstructing his route to goal.
Jose Sa set himself to dive to the right, anticipating the curler into the far corner; Saka gave him the eyes and smashed it in at his near post instead. That variety of finishing makes him doubly dangerous. By Oliver Young-Myles
Liverpool
A day that was initially about Arne Slot and ended belonging to Ryan Gravenberch. Based on the first half, the midfield looked static and the failure to sign Martin Zubimendi – or indeed anyone all summer – looked in danger of coming back to bite Liverpool.
Gravenberch went on to excel in the No 6 role and while Trent Alexander-Arnold will rightly get most of the credit for turning the game on its head, that couldn’t have happened if Liverpool had not gained control in the middle. It bodes well too for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai who will have greater license to play forward if Gravenberch can continue to run the show from the deeper role.
It is hard to know quite what to make of Slot’s team – not least because it isn’t really his. This is still Jurgen Klopp’s XI, but we did get a few insights into the Dutchman’s thinking. Jarell Quansah’s half time substitution was unfortunate – he had made a brilliant block to thwart Omari Hutchinson – though it did alter Liverpool’s shape.
Joe Gomez did not even travel to Portman Road and his Anfield career now looks over.
The bigger question mark is over Darwin Nunez. One of Slot’s first moves after taking over was calling the striker personally to tell him he was a big part of his plans, but he did not get on at all here, Cody Gakpo given the nod to replace Diogo Jota off the bench. When it clicked, though, it was sumptuous. By Kat Lucas
Manchester City
Kyle Walker must have watched on at Stamford Bridge with more than a hint of nervousness. Rico Lewis was the youngest player on the pitch and had a fair claim to have been the best. He made eight recoveries and had four touches in the Chelsea penalty area, helping Manuel Akanji secure City’s right flank while progressing the ball with ease and purpose.
Lewis appears the next cab off the rank of England’s remarkable right-back production line, with elements of both Reece James and Trent Alexander-Arnold in his game. He said recently he hopes to move into central midfield in the long term, and a potential trio of Adam Wharton, Kobbie Mainoo and Lewis is another hugely exciting prospect.
City’s ability to adapt year-on-year is one of many reasons they are favourites to win a fifth consecutive title. While they would lose Walker’s recovery speed if he becomes second choice, the potential progress creatively and in possession could have much greater benefits.
With his natural penchant for inverting and instincts born of a footballing education under Guardiolan principles, an expanded role for Lewis will only improve City, help them exert more control, shatter more souls. It went largely unnoticed against Chelsea that Rodri missed out due to an ongoing hamstring injury and much of that is down to the 19-year-old who helped Mateo Kovacic replace him. By George Simms
Aston Villa
Amadou Onana arguably saved his two best moves for after full-time at London Stadium. It was some introduction for the £50m midfielder, who scored within four minutes of his Aston Villa debut in the 2-1 Premier League win at West Ham.
Onana was a standout performer throughout, and was then not shy in coming forward after full-time, showcasing a confident personality that is evident in his play by running up – think Jurgen Klopp and the Kop – to beckon a cheer from Villa’s travelling support. He then did it again, and again, and again.
He proceeded to shake hands with the pitch-side Sky Sports team before walking down the tunnel, later returning to talk up his new head coach and the prestige of his new club.
“I couldn’t have had a better manager at this stage of my career. He can bring me to the next stage,” Onana said. “His football knowledge and IQ is unbelievable. He’s just one of the best in the business for me.”
In the space of two hours, Onana displayed all the hallmarks required to become a quick fan favourite, and this interview with Sky signalled his second smart move – with an assist, most likely, from Villa’s press team – in protecting Jhon Duran from further interrogation.
The cameras were fixated with Duran at full-time. He had, after all, just scored the winner against the very side he has been linked with over the summer, just three weeks after making an Irons gesture on Instagram live, and had thus celebrated in half-apology, half-declaration that he was here to stay and fight for Villa.
Duran had made a “young person’s mistake”, in Unai Emery’s words, but then repaid the faith of his head coach – who stressed the need for his second striker to be patient – by coming up trumps in a match that felt at least a week too soon for the fresh-from-a-holiday, probably-still-needs-another-one Ollie Watkins.
Knowing Duran may well have been the player Sky Sports wanted, Onana was the man they got, and he was quick to praise the player who had openly told Emery he wanted to leave in the hope of playing more elsewhere.
“I think Jhon will be crucial player for us,” Onana added. “He is very talented. Big, fast and physical and he’s definitely committed to his task here. We’re delighted to have him.” By Michael Hincks
Brentford
Fair play to Thomas Frank for leaving out Ivan Toney. There have been reports of his departure all summer, with Saudi Pro League clubs the latest to be linked to a striker who has made his feelings very clear. But with Igor Thiago injured for the foreseeable, it would have been very easy for Frank to use Toney while he can.
Instead he figured that he should pick the players who may be available after August. That would have been admirable even if Brentford had lost without scoring against Crystal Palace. As it is, the opening weekend couldn’t have gone better.
We wrote repeatedly in this column last season about how impressed we were with Bryan Mbeumo (when fit) and Yoane Wissa in the absence of Toney during his suspension. They are arguably the most underrated combination of players in the Premier League, consistently able to combine with each other and create chances. Unlike with Toney, there seems to be a meritocracy too. Nobody is the top dog.
So what better way to mark the post-Toney era than by celebrating the two forwards who have done far more for Brentford’s fortunes over the last 18 months than him. One game, one goal each, one home win. The more you expect Brentford to struggle, the more they make you look silly.
Manchester United
Beaming from ear to ear, speaking to Joshua Zirkzee after his winning goal on debut, in front of the Stretford End, the gravitas of what had just happened was clearly not lost on Manchester United’s new No 11.
His relaxed answers, from discussing taking his dog for a walk to what he was watching on Netflix, however, suggested taking a central role in Ineos’ red revolution is not going to be a daunting task.
Too young to have been completely wiped of personality during a major club’s media training, Zirkzee’s character matches his maverick playing style on the pitch.
Socks rolled down around his ankles just as Steve Claridge used to in his Leicester pomp, the 23-year-old 6ft 4ins striker plays like a diminutive No 10 and out-and-out hitman rolled into one, a “9.5” in the Dutchman’s own words.
Zirkzee’s last-gasp rescue act to break Fulham hearts only consisted of 12 touches, in a variety of positions, but his seventh was telling, popping up with a finish that his mentor and new United assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy would have been proud of. It was the very definition of a maverick’s impact, which is no bad thing in a team still desperately trying to find its way.
“It’s a privilege to have someone like that to work with,” Zirkzee said of his early experiences working with Van Nistelrooy, another Dutchman who netted on his Premier League debut against Fulham. “As a striker, it’s not every day you have someone that you grew up with to learn from. But everybody in the staff up to now has been great and I enjoy working with these people a lot. It’s not just him, but obviously it’s an extra privilege.”
The bold and the new: two things any restoration project needs in its infancy. Van Nistelrooy is still regarded in the pantheon of United strike greats, with that Fulham debut two-goal salvo 23 years ago exposing wide-eyed supporters to arguably the greatest poacher the club has ever had.
Zirkzee is a very different proposition altogether, but with Rasmus Hojlund, when fit, to fulfil the regulation penalty box predator role, the pair could, in Erik ten Hag’s 4-2-2-2 system, complement each other perfectly. For now, however, as Ten Hag and his team continue to define their identity, a different proposition is exactly what the doctor ordered. By Pete Hall
Newcastle United
If this was not the manner of victory Eddie Howe craved, it was not a bad substitute for the “intensity is our identity” imprint the Newcastle United boss wants to return to this season.
Top of Howe’s wishlist this season is control but the dream of dominating Southampton and laying down a marker for the rest of the top four challengers came to an abrupt end when Fabian Schar lost his head and clashed with Ben Brereton Diaz on 28 minutes. After that it became a scrap for Newcastle – but one which will have given Howe a lot of satisfaction.
Repairing the defensive deficiencies which undermined them last time out is essential for Newcastle. In the 2022-3 season they conceded just 33 goals, the joint fewest in the league, which was the foundation for finishing fourth. In 2023-4 it rocketed to 62, more than Fulham, Everton and Crystal Palace, and enough for European qualification to evaporate at the last.
Those issues are why Newcastle are prepared to blow the summer budget on Marc Guehi, even as Palace’s asking price no longer seems to make much sense in a depressed transfer market. But here was evidence of a platform to build on.
With a man advantage the impressive Saints pinned Newcastle in their own half for most of the second half – they had 77.8 per cent of possession, the kind of opposition stats not seen since the unlamented Steve Bruce era – but Howe’s side were resolute.
No-one ever doubted the character or determination of the likes of Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff – both excellent in a game that suited their styles – but Newcastle benefited from greater defensive organisation and the ability to freshen things up as tired bodies faded. Their shift to a low block after Schar’s red card was seamless and successful. That’s a big tick for the work that has been put in during pre-season.
A word too for the return of Joelinton, a colossus in this game. He offers not just his presence but also the return of balance to midfield. And his goal was the sort of first touch finish that he has been working on with his personal video analyst, who detailed the diligent work he puts in between matches to i in a fascinating interview over the summer.
Newcastle will certainly need to improve – Southampton were in the ascendancy before the sending off – but it hardly helped that Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon were far from peak condition after returning late from their summer tournament exertions. When they return to full speed, Newcastle’s top four challenge should rev up.
They also need more in the transfer market, be it Guehi or someone else. Schar’s red card – unless it is appealed – means he is missing for three games, making Newcastle’s need for defensive reinforcements even more acute. A significant recruitment breakthrough is long overdue for new director of football Paul Mitchell.
A personal feeling is that the Palace man’s fee now feels overinflated off the back of his performances in the Euros. Spending £65m would represent the joint highest price paid for a player in a transfer market depressed by Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) concerns and likely end any pretensions of strengthening at right wing. Would the price have been anywhere near that if Harry Maguire had been fit and first choice in Germany?
His fellow England international Joe Gomez, out of favour at Liverpool, is a viable alternative given the Reds are open to a sale. That might leave enough PSR headroom to do other deals. By Mark Douglas
Bournemouth
“I always say, normally we do all the subs, we try to do all the subs with some time, even the games we are winning because the way we play is with high intensity,” Andoni Iraola said after the 1-1 draw at the City Ground. “Sometimes it is better, someone plays for 55 minutes, and the other one plays the other 35, 40 minutes and we can keep this high intensity. Today I think the ones coming from the bench gave us the spark you need.”
It’s something that stuck out, given that Iraola’s changes did indeed change the game. It also stands up to scrutiny: Iraola is one of the more active, and successful, Premier League managers at using his bench.
Last season, only Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Newcastle had more goal involvements from substitutes. Look at the numbers for some of the clubs around Bournemouth: Crystal Palace with nine, West Ham four, Wolves 12, Everton 10. Bournemouth had 17.
That also allowed Bournemouth to gain more points from losing positions than most around them (which is logical if you typically make subs earlier when you’re losing and those subs are involved in goals). Bournemouth took more points after trailing than Brentford, Forest, Palace, Fulham and Everton.
Iraola mentioned repeatedly last season that he was impressed by the performance of his replacements, but he deserves credit for that too.
In March, The Athletic calculated the average time of the first substitution made by each Premier League manager in 2023-24.
Only Brighton and Sheffield United’s managers made that first change earlier than Iraola (and Sheffield United was surely down to finding themselves chasing games before half-time).
Cut to Iraola making four substitutions on Saturday between the 63rd and 69th minutes and Bournemouth establishing dominance.
Nottingham Forest
Drawing at home to Bournemouth is no reason for anything other than mild annoyance – Forest had lost 3-2 in this fixture in each of the last two seasons. They were forced to deal with a serious early injury to Danilo and a less serious, but just as frustrating, knock for Ola Aina. The last thing Forest need is their injury curse to extend into this season.
This team will change too, with another left-back likely and Nikola Milenkovic dropping into central defence after his suspension (earned in the Italian Cup in April) ends. Forest were by far the better team in the first half, which is promising.
But there is no more frustrating team in the Premier League than Forest when trying to sit on a lead. The game changed after Bournemouth’s substitutions (and the withdrawal of Aina and Anthony Elanga), but successive Forest managers have now proven themselves incapable of maintaining an advantage. For those keeping count, it’s now 55 points dropped after taking the lead since promotion. That’s…quite a lot.
Dropping deeper towards your own goal when leading is hardly unusual, but the way Forest defenders seem to panic is. Bournemouth’s goal came from a shambolic piece of play. Forest could easily have conceded from yet another set piece but for a VAR offside call.
Nuno’s task is to change this quickly, something we’ve been saying since the moment he walked through the door. More broadly, he has to improve Forest’s home record (which is something Steve Cooper was able to do successfully). Forest have now won three home league games in the last 12 months.
Leicester City
Play Tottenham Hotspur on Monday evening.
Read more: Inside Leicester’s nightmare Premier League preparations
Tottenham Hotspur
Play Leicester City on Monday evening.
Read more: Tottenham’s Nick Montgomery: ‘Ange Postecoglou wants to win everything’
Crystal Palace
Before this season began, the Premier League and PGMOL explained how the use of VAR would change in 2024-25. The headline news was that the bar for intervention by the video assistant would be raised in order to avoid the regular – and lengthy – delays that some people felt was causing the game to become compartmentalised. This is still a learning curve.
“We are doing what the game is telling us they want to see in this league,” Tony Scholes, the Premier League’s chief football officer, said. “We did an extensive survey in the spring, where managers, football directors and captains told us they wanted to have a high bar for the VAR intervention.”
At Selhurst Park on Sunday, I think we saw the best example of that new process. Will Hughes was adjudged to have committed a foul in the box and thus Eberechi Eze’s free-kick goal was ruled out. Last season, I suspect that the video assistant referee would have asked Sam Barrott to take another look at the screen, perhaps shaping his decision. In this case, they did not overrule him.
This is going to take some time to get used to. This is also going to have to be more than just a new fad that falls away in October and November. People are always going to kick up a fuss because we opened Pandora’s Box.
But I think it has to be a good thing if there is a genuine, committed attempt to hand some power back to the officials on the field rather than risking the re-refereeing of previous seasons. I also do not expect any Crystal Palace supporter, nor Eze, to agree with me.
West Ham
It may take a while for Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham to take shape. Despite remaining in contention until the very end, they were second best against Aston Villa and can have few complaints about the 2-1 scoreline.
Positives can be taken from the absence of European football, and for the first time in four seasons it is no perhaps bad thing for West Ham, as it allows Lopetegui greater time at Rush Green to iron out mistakes and work on areas for improvement – of which there are many.
Saturday’s showing suggests a preferred XI could take months to surface. Squint and initially you would have seen a David Moyes team, with the majority of new signings named among the subs, but their eventual introduction spoke more of what’s to come than what they managed against Villa.
In Niclas Fullkrug, West Ham have an option three inches taller than Michail Antonio who could yet forge a double act with the pinpoint James Ward-Prowse, while Crysencio Summerville’s role will surely switch from cameo to protagonist in due course.
It could have been a point. It wasn’t. West Ham will quickly, and gladly, move on. By Michael Hincks
Fulham
It can take years for clubs like Fulham to unearth a talent like Joao Palhinha, which must make it all the more frustrating when, time and again, Europe’s elite clubs come calling for their best talent and they have to go back to square one.
Replacing what the Portugal international brought to Marco Silva’s side is going to be no easy task, but none is more crucial between now and the end of the transfer window. At Old Trafford on Friday, Fulham had United on the ropes in moments, with one two-on-one situation that went begging particularly frustrating.
But without the now Bayern Munich midfield anchor, any element of control in the middle of the park was gone, with Sasa Lukic and Andreas Pereira, playing deeper than he would ordinarily like to, not of the same ilk.
Emile Smith Rowe is a smart piece of business as an attacking midfield option, but if a deeper-lying metronome cannot be found before now and the end of the month, the former Arsenal bright hope will be restricted to fleeting moments as he was on Friday, with his team unable to exert any control over any opposition. By Pete Hall
Southampton
Ben Brereton Diaz has probably had better Saturdays. His risible reaction when confronted by Fabian Schar – buying a red card by tumbling theatrically to the ground after the merest hint of contract – might have made him the villain of the piece at St James’ Park but a pair of misses either side of half-time that really cost enterprising Southampton on their return to the Premier League.
The newly promoted Saints were everything Russell Martin had promised they would be: sharp, brave and quite brilliant at countering Newcastle’s plan to press them even before the red card. But naivety in the final third meant it counted for nothing. If that becomes a theme over the next 37 games it will be a long, long season – just ask Burnley, who tried to play a similar game.
Saturday brought frustration but also a foundation to build on. They had almost 80 per cent of possession and it required a series of frantic Newcastle blocks to keep them out. They will surely create chances and cause problems for plenty of opponents this season.
But losing to a team that played for an hour with 10 men will also do little to assuage fears that there aren’t enough goals in a team that will look to Brereton Diaz, Cameron Archer and Adam Armstrong to lead the line. By Mark Douglas
Chelsea
Maybe that was good. Maybe that was progress. Maybe that was the start of a beautiful friendship between Enzo Maresca and Chelsea. Maybe Manchester City are inevitable and Erling Haaland was always going to score. Maybe this is what £1.3bn is supposed to buy you.
Or maybe Mateo Kovacic (£30m, bought from Chelsea) pushing past Enzo Fernandez (£105m) like he was made of dandelion fluff en route to scoring represents some deeper problem.
Maybe Raheem Sterling, who scored in both Premier League matches against City under Mauricio Pochettino, might have been more use were he not engaged in a proxy slanging match with the club having not been selected.
Maybe Marc Cucurella should not have spent his summer reciting a kitschy chant about him leaving Erling Haaland “trembling” to anyone who would listen. Food for thought, and Cucurella will likely spend much of the next week thinking about Haaland running through him.
These 90 minutes sparked far more questions than answers. Perhaps the most pressing surrounded Fernandez’s myriad roles at Chelsea.
Having spent much of the summer under investigation after broadcasting himself singing a racist and transphobic song to his 11.3m Instagram followers – not textbook leadership behaviour – the 23-year-old was named captain.
Is this the gleaming standard Maresca hopes to set? That forgiveness is only ever an apology and a sizeable charitable donation away if you’re worth over £100m to the club? Chelsea’s leadership void has been well publicised, but surely there was a candidate for the vice-captaincy who hasn’t spent their summer posting Comic Sans statements?
None of which has any relevance to the other screamingly obvious issue with Fernandez – he is not as good as Chelsea either believe him to be or are kidding themselves he is. Failing to stop Kovacic was just the most recognisable incident in a litany of misplaced raking passes and ricocheting touches, two of which he attempted to pass off as penalty-box fouls.
There’s a fair argument he doesn’t suit a role in Maresca’s system just as much as Conor Gallagher, who presumably spent his afternoon watching from the TV while trying to learn Spanish on Duolingo. After Sterling’s late arrival, he’s now not even the most famous footballer on the isle of misfit toys. By George Simms
Ipswich Town
Ramsey, Robson, Burley – McKenna? Onto the turnstiles Ipswich Town have emblazoned their own Mount Rushmore – the pantheon of greats who turned the club into a major top-flight force, their eyes looking down on a cacophonous hive of fans who have been waiting 22 years for this moment.
They are rattling through the gates to see a game of Premier League football; for thousands of younger fans, this is a promised land they have only ever known as an inaccessible TV opera.
From the Sir Bobby Robson Stand hangs the rallying cry: “The future is now.” With Wes Burns racing forward and Omari Hutchinson wriggling through what was at first a woefully static Liverpool midfield, they made clear from the first kick that they are ready to seize the day – and have no intention of watering down the firebrand football that got them here in the first place.
Ipswich have a balance to strike between committing to the counter-press that has seen them thrive in League One and the Championship and lacking control, and they paid the price once Liverpool turned the tap on.
Ten of the starting XI were making their Premier League debuts and in the long run, it may well have been for the best that the back four were eventually forced to dig in for large stretches – a reality check nipping in the bud any naivety about the scale of the challenge ahead.
Last season, all three newly promoted teams went straight back down – nobody benefits if that happens again. That is why Ipswich will have supporters willing them on far beyond the thunderous 30,014 who squeezed into one of the Premier League’s smallest grounds.
It is in everyone’s interests – except a handful of clubs who fear being dragged into a relegation battle themselves – that Ipswich can compete. They have not done a Sheffield United, selling their best players in the build-up and resigning themselves to relegation.
All the indications are that the goals will come, helped by the arrival of Sammie Szmodics, an excellent bit of business at just £9m after a return of 27 goals from 44 games at Blackburn Rovers last season.
The club have evidently been forking out elsewhere too, with swish media facilities adapted after promotion and so new in some quarters you can still scent the freshest licks of paint. Even the bins outside have been adapted: “Ipswich – a Premier League town.”
Keeping it that way is a formidable task, but not an impossible one. By Kat Lucas
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Losing 2-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates is hardly a cause for panic to set in and Wolves produced some bright moments in north London.
However, it is going to be a long, hard season unless reinforcements arrive in the next fortnight. Over the summer, Wolves have sold their captain Max Kilman to West Ham and their best attacker Pedro Neto to Chelsea. There is speculation over Joao Gomes’ future too.
Their only recruits so far are Rodrigo Gomes, a 21-year-old winger, Pedro Lima, an 18-year-old right-back, Tommy Doyle, who was mostly used as a substitute last season, and Jorgen Strand Larsen, a target man forward who almost scored on his debut.
But it is painfully apparent that they need more quality if they are to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle. There is a staleness about the current squad that needs to be addressed urgently. Daniel Podence spent last season on loan at Olympiacos and came off the bench on Saturday. Goncalo Guedes last played for Wolves in January 2023 and was also among the substitutes.
O’Neil has worked wonders at Molineux but results are trending downwards. Wolves have earned just five points from their last 11 Premier League matches and four of those were against Luton and Burnley, now of the Championship. By Oliver Young-Myles
Everton
Is there any other single position in the Premier League that needs upgrading more urgently than Everton at right-back? Seamus Coleman is injured and 35 years old, Nathan Patterson is reportedly out until September and started only nine league games last season. Ashley Young is 39, started against Brighton and was given a rough ride even before he was sent off for pulling back Kaoru Mitoma.
The message will have gone out to all forthcoming opponents, before and after Young’s suspension ends. Tottenham have Son Heung-min, Bournemouth have Antoine Semenyo and Dango Ouattara and Aston Villa have Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey plus at least two other wingers on the bench. All will look to target this emphatically weak era.
But if Dyche had no option to pick Young, he made mistakes elsewhere with his defensive selection. You could excuse leaving new signing Jake O’Brien on the bench if Jarrad Branthwaite had been available but, with Branthwaite missing, Dyche picked two fairly immobile central defenders in James Tarkowski and Michael Keane against one of the most fluid and interchangeable attacks in the division.
Everton’s central defensive pairing were given twisted blood from the moment that Brighton took the lead. They conceded three times but could have had few complaints if Brighton had scored five.
The manner in which Everton fell apart was also problematic. Last season, Dyche was able to define this team as one that dealt with upheaval and uncertainty – on and off the pitch – impeccably, doubling down on their own siege mentality, particularly at Goodison. They ended the season with five consecutive clean sheets at home.
None of that resilience was present on Saturday. Everton creaked and then fell apart. Rather than closing up the spaces in midfield, they allowed them to further open up and the game became dangerously loose. That is the antithesis of Dyche’s managerial ethos – it’ll have to change quickly.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/WFeh8Ii
Post a Comment