Issue 24 - First Weekend Finished

The Premier League is back, Match of the Day has returned, and we’re one subscriber short of hitting 50!

In this issue, we break down all the opening weekend action: from Liverpool’s rollercoaster against Bournemouth to Aston Villa’s stalemate with Newcastle, Tottenham’s bounceback, and the worries for West Ham, Wolves, and Brentford.

Plus, we dive into managers already under pressure, transfers shaking up squads, and quick-fire insights in The Filter Five. All the highlights, analysis, and quirks you won’t get anywhere else. Issue 24. Go.

No Change Please

With it being the opening weekend of the new Premier League season, it also meant the first two showings of Match of the Day since Gary Lineker’s departure from the BBC and with shared hosting responsibilities over the weekend, it seemed business as usual.

Mark Chapman steering the ship on Saturday, the trusted Gabby Logan parking it up the following day. No major format tweaks, no asking the fans their opinions just a previous balance of action and insight.

Admittedly the insight was not cutting edge but with Match of the Day it never has to be for the simple reason that he has to speak to so many different people on so many different levels.

There was the obvious and arguably feared temptation to change the format of the show. More talking, less action, bring in a journalist to split the pair of former players that would be offering their takes on the games.

Rooney Street Striker

Instead we got the first MOTD appearance of this season from Wayne Rooney and with some of the Gary Lineker money going to the former Everton and Manchester United forward, he will undoubtedly be pushed front and centre throughout the season.

Especially if the first week of the season is anything to go by. Punditry on the Saturday, a 15-min interview with Kelly Somers after Match of the Day finished and all manner of soundbites on the BBC Sport website or BBC Sounds.

Ultimately with nothing changing bar the main presenter, it just goes to show that it is the action that people tune in for. As much as you could consider Gary Lineker a good presenter, he had a habit of making the show about him.

Gone are the puns, replaced for smarter banter from ‘Chappers’ and although Alan Shearer was lazy in blaming Milos Kerkez when he was not even on the field of play during Liverpool’s win over Bournemouth, it seems Match of the Day is still A Ok.

Ten Takeaways

A look at the main stories from last weekend’s Premier League action. Get yourself some Tuesday night takeaway.

Liverpool vs Bournemouth

Liverpool looked like they were plain sailing but then Bournemouth had other ideas in mind. Maybe Arne Slot overcomplicated matters with his second half substitutions but the defending champions managed to get off to a winning start.

A game marred by the racism incident towards Antonie Semenyo in the first half but a game played at an incredible pace from either side. The Cherries may have lost nearly all of last season’s backline but they do not necessarily look like a team going backwards.

Aston Villa vs Newcastle

Saturday lunchtime’s PSR derby saw Villa and Newcastle joined in union by their distrust of the Premier League. No loved lost from either set of supports, no winning goal to split the two in the West Midlands.

If you offered Newcastle a point before kick off, I do not think there would have been too much displeasure. However, an Ezri Konsa red card certainly changes the game state for the Magpies. If only they had a world-class striker who was willing to play for the club.

Tottenham vs Burnley

After the deflation of their Super Cup slip up, Tottenham bounced back in the best possible fashion when at home to Burnley. Richarlison the star of the show and Mohammed Kudus will rightly earn the accolades as best supporting actor.

As for Burnley, their defensive patterns that saw them earn promotion from the Championship have already been torn apart within 90 minutes of their Premier League. Welcome back to the big time Scott Parker but maybe don’t get too comfortable.

Sunderland vs West Ham

Sunderland off the mark and what a way to go about it. Then again, if you were to highlight perfect Week 1 opposition when playing in front of your fans, then the visit of West Ham could not have gift wrapped maximum points any better.

The performance by Graham Potter’s men makes certainly places the team in the “you fear for me” category, it also puts considerable pressure on the shoulders of the former Brighton and Chelsea. Who do West Ham face on Friday night? The latter of those two.

Brighton vs Fulham

Brighton were seconds away from earning opening weekend maximum points at home to Fulham only to be denied by a late Rodrigo Muniz equaliser. Both teams off the mark, both teams will be happy that they have managed to make a deposit into their accounts.

The shared performance that suggests the Seagulls may have more of an upper ceiling compared to the Cottagers. If Marco Silva can bring in a few more names and quality ones at that in the next week, a top half finish may end being a fair bit of ambition.

Wolves vs Manchester City

The second entry in the “you fear for them” category is Wolves and although a home defeat to Manchester City is far from a suprise, the magnitude will be of concern to not only manager Vitor Pereira but also those supporters who filled out Molineux on Saturday.

Wolves feel like a club in backwards motion, Manchester City on the other hand have been thrust forward and with the midfield thrust now coming from Dutch international Tijani Reijnders, he made the perfect debut for his new Etihad employers.

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace

It turns out that we now have a new law in football. I say new, it turns out it has been part of the law book since 2019. Did anyone actually know about this before Sunday? I doubt they did. Incredibly harsh for Eberechi Eze’s rocket of a free-kick to then be ruled out.

At first I and many others were under the impression that Palace’s goal was ruled out due to Marc Guehi’s strength. Turned out, you cannot be within 1m of the wall as an attacker. If this is the law fine. If this is not being pulled up in Week 2 and beyond, that is the issue.

Nottingham Forest vs Brentford

The final entry in the “you fear for them” category is Brentford and on the basis of their showing at the City Ground on Sunday, it is fair to say that maybe you fear for Keith Andrews’ men the most. Naive he said. Naive is being kind to a poor performance.

At the same time, Forest picked up from where they left off last season and with the news that Douglas Luiz is set to return to the Premier League after his time with Juventus, it is the kind of addition that will help fatten out their squad when also competing in Europe.

Manchester United vs Arsenal

It does not matter how much money Manchester United spend on attackers, they still have a glaring problem between the sticks. Whether Andre Onana would have also committed the same cardinal sin on Sunday can be argued, but there is little to suggest he would not.

There were positive showings from United under Ruben Amorim as Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo were giving starting roles but you still feel it is going to take plenty of time for it to click. As for Arsenal, Viktor Gyokeres is still looking for his first touch.

Leeds vs Everton

I think David Moyes has to come in for huge criticism. Why is he playing James Tarkowski when he already knows the defender has two arms? Of course, I am being incredibly pedantic after Everton were beaten by a late and rather controversial Leeds penalty.

Again, will the same proximity be punished at the weekend? Will have to wait and see but it was a sickener for Everton to take on Monday night. At the same time, Leeds supporters will not care one iota and if they can bottle that atmosphere, other teams could toil.

Managers Under Pressure

Back in Issue 11, I referenced which Premier League managers felt under the most pressure:

This was my thinking back in July:

Amorim - failure to win the Europa League final and a terrible start to his time at Old Trafford

Potter - little in the way of new manager bounce at the London Stadium. Feels like he needs a good start to the campaign

Guardiola - Grip on the Premier League title finally relinquished, FA Cup final defeat. Embarassment in the Club World Cup. Pressure, yes. Exit door, no.

For those recent subscribers, under pressure is not the same as being next for the sack. That pressure can come from not meeting differing standards and/or ambitions but after the first week of the season is in the can, you would place the ‘Pressure Rankings’ as such:

1. Graham Potter - No doubt after such an insipid showing at the Stadium of Light

2. Keith Andrews - Already up against it and that defeat does him no favours

3. Ruben Amorim - More the legacy pressure of last season and £200m spent.

Some weeks it may only be one manager under pressure, it could be as many as four or five. We will see how the charts look this time next week.

Listen To The Sister Podcast

Real Football Cast - Season 8 Episode 2

The Real Football Cast returns for another weekly appearance and this week, Dan is joined by Stuart in a bid to make sense of the Premier League's opening weekend.

The Filter Five

Five slices of delicious football ham

Morecambe Staying Alive

Forget all the transfer sagas over the past couple of the months, the most protracted football business has taken place (or not taken place) on the beaches of Morecambe. Thankfully, that saga has now come to an end.

Jason Whittingham out. The Panjab Warriors in. Great news for supporters and those who have kept a very keen eye on proceedings. Harsh news for former boss Derek Adams who was booted out of the managerial seat just two hours after the takeover.

Plucky Little Wrexham Again

In Issue 23 I referenced plucky little Wrexham who keep breaking their own transfer record over the course of the summer. No sooner have they spent £10m on Ipswich’s Nathan Broadhead are they now spending £7.5m on Callum Doyle.

The Manchester City player joins the army of players that is currently being assembled by manager Phil Parkinson but with successive defeats from their opening two games, Wrexham’s Hollywood owners are learning that this league is a different ball game.

Doak Finds Name

The current crop of emerging young Scottish talent has seen Ben Doak come to the fore over the past season or so and although there was plenty of promise at Liverpool, the pathway to regular minutes was blocked by far greater talents.

That pathway has now been re-routed to Bournemouth as he makes the switch from one Premier League club to another. Not only has he moved for £25m but he now goes under the name Ben Gannon Doak. Not sure how that works if Liverpool ever want to buy him back!

Eze To Spurs

The move is not yet complete, but if it does manage to get over the line as anticipated. The transfer of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace to Tottenham will very quickly soften any Morgan Gibbs White blow that supporters are still suffering.

If I am being brutally honest, this deal surpasses the move that was halted earlier in the summer. If reports are true, all Daniel Levy has to do is tap this one over the line. Daniel, please do not much this one up by trying to pay in 48 monthly installments.

Sky Sports Fanalyst

You may have seen this concept doing the rounds over the past few days. Terrible.

Sky Sports’ plans to further move into influencer continues at pace. For those who are subscribers it means a further continuation of YouTube content for Sky Prices.

Admin

Right, that’s the end of issue 24 as the first week of the season is behind us

If you liked issue 24, tell a friend and forward it on. If you didn’t like issue 24 don’t.

49 subscribers collected in pre-season - just one shy of 50 but thanks to everyone who is part of the squad. Can you help me get number 50?

Also, continual feedback is certainly going to help drive this forward.

Feel free to email me to tell me what you like and what you did not.

[email protected]

Issue 25 will be out on Friday August 22nd

Thanks for reading

Dan