The Premiership on Steroids

This season, the Premiership threatened to reach boiling point with the overabundance of Managerial talent & transfer funds boosted by the new TV deal.

Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte, Arsene Wenger & their respective “projects” in a land mass measuring 50,000 square miles. Terrifying innit! All of them have their reputations on the line; pushed by impatient boards/owners to be successful yesterday. Spurs, Leicester, Southampton, Everton, West Ham won’t go quietly into the night either.

Add the lucrative new TV deal to this concoction and you have madness. $20-30 Million for a player they really want (need is another question altogether) is not beyond the reach of even the newly promoted teams. Transfer activity from the mid-table clubs peaked this year resulting in the 1 Billion pounds figure being breached by 8.30 AM on Deadline day (Against 870 Mn spent last season).

In all this hype, it is easy to lose track of the small matter of Football. Does the game on field match up?

The first 3 rounds have been interesting if not exactly enthralling. The two Manchester clubs, boosted by their star additions have notched up the full quota of points (United by the skin of their teeth in the 92^nd Minute against Hull). Manchester United is adapting to the “Mou” way; Tougher still, unlearning Van Gaal’s sideways style. True to form, Mourinho has already sidelined a world cup winning legend prompting outrage from all over Germany. Propelled forward by Zlatan, Pogba & the variety of attacking talent, United are already a sure shot contender for the top 4. They are yet to reach the level of fluidity of a top team though. An inexperienced defense is a worry too -something which may come back to haunt them as the fixtures pile up.

City is another big spender in transition with erstwhile “untouchables” being discarded. Pep has his people and process in place. There was a telling moment against West Ham when Pep frantically waved Willy Caballero onto a “Neuer”esque position midway between the penalty box and the halfway line. They look a more settled team with their attack more in Sync. They are not averse to winning ugly when it is called for too, as the 3-1 result over West ham showed.

Chelsea is the other team with their full quota of points; though they threatened to drop em at multiple occasions in their first 2 games. Contrary to last season, they managed to find solutions to dig themselves out of trouble though. Costa’s getting the goals; new signing Batshuayi looks sharp and has a mean shot. The Burnley game saw Hazard firing again. Spoilt for choice in midfield, Conte has used Fabregas sparingly. With new addition Kante adding steel to the midfield, Chelsea’s weakness remains the lack of depth in defense. Conte is winning over the fans with his celebrations and will get more brownie points for bringing in David Luiz, a crowd favourite from PSG.

Arsenal, Liverpool & Spurs have been inconsistent at best. The opening weekend saw the first 2 play out a 4-3 thriller which confirmed the backlines of both teams are in need of immediate replenishment. Spurs have not been finding goal scorers; Harry Kane has had a quiet start.

The first 3 rounds have seen some upsets – Hull beating Leicester on opening day with 14 fit players available, Burnley stunning Liverpool 2-0 with only 19% possession.

Overall it has been a fairly interesting beginning. It will get better with the Managers finding their best formations, combinations and players. With purse strings loosening & increasing accessibility of talent, clubs from the lower rungs will challenge the biggies at every turn. The Premier league remains as open as ever; nothing can be taken for granted.