Issue 33 - A Title Eliminator

The Ballon d’Or was meant to be a celebration. Instead, it was a snoozefest in Paris. Dembélé has the trophy, but the real prize is the debate over whether anyone actually cares.

While the tuxedos and speeches dragged on, the Premier League kept serving the drama: title rivals cancelling each other out, managers already feeling the squeeze, and Wolves still sinking without a trace.

Awards night may have been boring, but the weekend’s football certainly wasn’t. Issue 33. Go.

Ballon Bored

Monday night in Paris should sound like an exciting prospect but last night’s Ballon d’Or award ceremony was rather tame considering the prizes that were on offer. Ousmane Dembele scoops the award for the first time but does anyone really care?

In fairness to the PSG forward the decision to hand him one of the highest personal honours in the game seems a fair one but there is always something a bit murky about handing out personal awards in a team game.

Rarely will a defender or goalkeeper scoop the highest honour - which is why they have a seperate prize for the shot stoppers (hat tip to Gianluigi Donnaruma for his award speech were he thanked new club Manchester City rather than previous employers PSG), an honour that awards output in the final third of the pitch.

A Numbers Game

Reasoning that placed Dembele above Barcelona starlet Yamine Lamal in the honours list as the Spanish international had to make do with second - one place better off than Vitinha in third.

Again these places must not be considered as the biggest shocks but is Cole Palmer really the eighth best player in the world? How do you even get to such an arbitrary ranking? Are you really telling me he is better than Harry Kane?

According to this year’s Ballon d’Or rankings and by that logic it means winning the FIFA Club World Cup and the Europa Conference League is worth more than a Bundesliga title. Personally, I don’t think that is the case. Then again, I’m not voting so ignore me.

Ten Takeaways

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

Liverpool vs Everton

The latest chapter of the Merseyside derby has been written and it is one where Liverpool once again come out on top. Not only from a bragging rights point of view but also from a Premier League perspective. Five from five in terms of league wins. Success that was worth more a day later.

As what seems to be per usual, Liverpool let their guard slip when 2-0 up and although Everton halved the deficit after the break, there was not the level of jeopardy that has been found witnessed with Arne Slot’s men. Nothing for Everton to take back across Merseyside but a confusing yellow card for Kiernan Dewsbury Hall.

West Ham vs Crystal Palace

When there is talk of an interim manager being installed with 33 league games of the season remaining, you know there is trouble brewing for a particular club and especially with Nuno Espirito Santo being spotted talking to Jorge Mendes in Essex - coincidence?

No coincidence that West Ham were caught out by a corner again, whatever Graham Potter is doing on the training pitch is not working. On the other hand, whatever Oliver Glasner is doing in the south of the capital. The Eagles are still unbeaten this season.

Wolves vs Leeds

The decision to offer Vitor Pereira a new contract at Molineux seems more confusing by the day and with Wolves slipping to their fifth successive league defeat of the season, that deal can only mean one of two things. A bumper payout or a real show of faith in a manager.

Should this terrible run continue to the international break then Wolves themselves could be tempted to press the Nuno button but it was Leeds who were pressing all the button’s on Saturday. Three well taken finishes turning into three well earned points for Daniel Farke’s men.

Brighton vs Tottenham

Brighton is never a nice place to go (from a footballing perspective I might end, it is a lovely city) and when 2-0 up at home to Tottenham on Saturday, it looked as if the one-way traffic down by The Amex was going to be converted into a comfortable home win.

Credit must go to Thomas Frank’s men for hauling themselves back into the game and although the Dane may have had his fingers burned by a little too much rotation after a European win in midweek, he can take solace in a spirited comeback by the sea.

Burnley vs Nottingham Forest

If you were to offer a Burnley fan four points from the first five games, there would be few who would turn down your generosity. Especially as Scott Parker’s men find themselves on the right side of the relegation zone at present and look like they can hold their own.

They held Nottingham Forest to a draw on Saturday and although Neco Williams’ strike was worthy of winning every game, Ange Postecoglou’s tactics were not. Not the result the Aussie would have wanted after that miserable League Cup exit to Swansea in midweek.

Manchester United vs Chelsea

All Premier League fixtures should be played in a huge deluge of rain - even if it needs to be artficially manufactured. That is my new idea to make football fun again and fun was how you describe the clash between Manchester United and Chelsea on Saturday.

Robert Sanchez with another rush of blood to the head, Enzo Maresca’s early wave of substitutions almost killing the Blues stone dead. The Blues lose their unbeaten start to the campaign, the Red Devils with another important home win - now they need to start winning on the road.

Fulham vs Brentford

Fulham and Brentford is a pairing that has developed slightly more needle over the past few years and with this other West London derby seeing the Cottagers come from behind to come out on top, Marco Silva’s men have now made it back-to-back league wins.

All the more impressive after falling behind to Brentford and with the Bees seemingly being stung in defense, their current average of conceding 2.00 goals per league game is the kind of highly dangerous metric which can catch you out at the end of the season.

Sunderland vs Aston Villa

Another place that could be difficult to go to this season is the Stadium of Light. Sunderland have picked up seven points from the nine of offer and on current displays, arguably look the best suited to the top tier of all the three promoted clubs.

While the ‘Crisis Baton’ is no looser at Villa Park after faling to beat 10-man Sunderland on Sunday. Unai Emery still looking for a first league win, they have only just scored their first league goal. Not many would have had Matty Cash down as its scorer (a great goal to be fair)

Bournemouth vs Newcastle

Bournemouth’s unbeaten Premier League run extends to four after a bore draw at home to Newcastle on Sunday and as crazy as it might sound, Andoni Iraola may have every right to consider this one as two points dropped as Newcastle were there for the taking.

A slight Champions League hangover after being bested by Barcelona on Thursday, a point was always going to be acceptable for Newcastle supporters before kickoff. A third league clean sheet in a row but only a Nick Woltemade goal in the same period. Worrying.

Arsenal vs Manchester City

A 1-1 draw at the Emirates and the big winners in all of this are Liverpool. Arsenal and Manchester City have to settle for an unwelcomed truce in terms of the title race. Once again it is Gabriel Martinelli who plays the role of super sub. Once again, Arteta fails to go for the jugular.

Finding an equaliser against City’s legion of centre backs all over the pitch should have pushed the Arsenal boss into rolling the dice in the bid for all three points. Instead, he reverts to type and swaps Zubimendi for Mosquera.

As for City, so close in trying to claw their way back into the title race. The gap now stands at eight points between the holders and the team they took the title from. A margin that is going to need wins at the Etihad and Anfield and a little bit of luck elsewhere to go with it.

For The Gram

Ever wanted to know who is winning the Instagram Premier League?

New research by social media consultancy Chapter reveals the most followed Premier League squads on Instagram:

• Liverpool tops the league for the most followed squad on Instagram, with a combined total of over 147 million followers.

• Manchester City are second with just over 97 million, which is still 50 million lower than Liverpool

• Mo Salah is the most followed player in the Premier League, while Phil Foden is the league's most followed English player.

But Chapter’s research does not stop there when it comes to which players are the kings of Insta. What if the ultimate starting eleven was made on follower count alone?

Liverpool stars Mo Salah (66 million followers) and Virgil van Dijk (16.9 million followers) contribute to the Reds' Instagram dominance.

Manchester City are their closest rivals but still 50 million followers short, despite the best efforts of Erling Haaland (38.3 million) and Phil Foden (12.2 million).

Burnley would have been rock bottom if it hadn't been for Kyle Walker's 5.5 million followers.

Commenting on the research, social media strategist at Chapter, Dave Endsor, said:

"Footballers' Instagram accounts have evolved over the years as more and more players become brands in their own right. This means their channels are far more curated than they ever have been, but equally they're far more viewed too.

"As clubs increase their visibility through pre, post and even mid-season tours to the likes of Asia and America, player profiles continue to rise as they reach new markets – increasing their revenue potential beyond their limited playing careers."

Endsor added, "Clubs have also realised the impact of social for their own means, knowing that signing a highly marketable – yet still talented player – can reap huge commercial rewards. These players can often represent far more than their position or country of birth, but even their whole continent, mixed nationality, ethnicity or even religion.

"With the expanded World Cup and Champions League, plus the revamped Club World Cup, players are more visible than they ever have been, and interest in them continues to soar."

The Filter Five

Five news nuggets that may have slipped through the net.

Arsenal Injury Woes

The good thing about Arsenal purchasing attacking reinforcements in the summer was that it gave Mikel Arteta options than opposed to running Bukayo Saka into the ground. Noni Madueke was meant to serve as a release of that pressure value after signing from Chelsea.

What was not in the plan for October was Madueke also picking up an injury of his own. After the Manchester City clash, the England international has been sidelined for anywhere between 6-8 weeks. Not what you need when you are trying to make up lost ground.

Blades Recruitment Tool

Not really breaking news in the sense that the appointment has long since been made. But the second return of Chris Wilder as Sheffield United is one part smart to two parts absurd. Did the Blades’ board really need to sack him in the summer?

Obviously a huge lesson learned after the disasterclass that was Ruben Selles’ very short stint but when you take into the old adage of never going back, Wilder is now going to test that statement to its fullest for a second time. Forget promotion, the first task is to get Sheffield United out of the bottom three.

Super Size Break

Next season will see the September and October international breaks fused together to make one big break. On the one hand, it means one less hiatus for all things domestic. On the other hand, that hiatus is twice as long.

The fan feedback has been “there will be no football on for longer” a statement that is far from true. As always, in opportunities such as this, go and pop down to your local non-league club. I warn you, you might really enjoy it and up as a regular.

Black Market Tickets

The BBC have made a lot of noise about black market tickets for Premier League games and the eye-watering costs that supporters are prepared to pay in order to get their hands on a much wanted ticket.

I also did my own digging around and came across this:

This name attached to a Newcastle ticket and who is Michael Mooijer?

Turns out he works for - https://football-ticketshop.com/our-team/

Coincidence? Course not. Also he does seem to have lovely posture in that photo.

Moore For Wales

Tottenham teenager Mikey Moore has been tipped for many things but never has been tipped for a Wales international cap or at least not before today. The current Rangers loanee has a Welsh grandparent, Wales boss Craig Bellamy is wasting no time.

Discussions have taken place in a bid to change Moore’s allegiance. If was to make the switch now, then a full international cap would not be far off but if he plays the waiting game then being a member of the Three Lions would surely follow.

An international game of stick or twist for the 18-year-old.

Admin

Right, that’s the end of issue 33 as word continues to spread around the football world.

If you liked issue 33, tell a friend and forward it on. If you didn’t like issue 33 please tell me why.

We are edging towards 60 subs as the momentum continues throughout this early part of the season, a big thanks to all those that have joined the squad in the past few days.

Send your thoughts in, not only of the newsletter but of the game itself. It’s all about building a community you see.

[email protected]

Issue 34 will be out on Friday September 26th

Thanks for reading

Dan