Matheus Cunha tipped to be ‘utterly fabulous’ or a ‘massive flop’ in pre-season predictions
Liverpool or Man City for the Premier League title, various teams beginning with B to get relegated; we have lots of pre-season predictions.
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Pre-season predictions ahoy
And just like that, we’re almost at the dawn of another Premier League season. With this in my mind, I thought I’d share a few thoughts and predictions;
1) There will be a proper title fight – Liverpool look to have spent very well, however we all know that players coming into the Prem from other leagues are not guaranteed to be successful. I also think they look a bit thin at the back, and one serious injury to a first-choice centre back leaves them vulnerable. This said, I’ve just got a feeling Man City are going to be absolutely mint, and Chelsea will not be far behind. Unfortunately for Arsenal, I see them finishing a rather distant 4th, and so ending ‘The Process’.
2) Man United will be very, very good – Amorim clearly has something about him. Yes, he’s hellbent on his system, but every time he speaks, I listen (and no, I’m not “Man Yoo”). You can’t 100% rule out Cunha having a ‘Cantona Moment’ and ending up in the crowd with his studs deep in someone’s neck, however you also can’t rule out him being utterly fabulous. He was just born to be a United player, wasn’t he?
3) Sticking with matters at Old Trafford – Either Vardy or Calvert Lewin will sign on a free, late in the window on a 12-month deal.
4) Glasner will not be Crystal Palace manager at the end of the season – Clearly there are some frustrations with regards to recruitment at The Dogtrack (yes, I still miss you, Ted, Beard and Co.), and Glasner is also in the last year of his contract. A sticky start for Kompany at The Alianz, and it’s next-stop Munich for Olly G.
5) Brentford could be many, many different kinds of f*cked – No explanation necessary, and still wishing you the best of luck, Keith.
Leeds or Sunderland (or both) to stay up – I genuinely think Farke is a very good coach, and I think Sunlun’ have easily spent the best money of the three promoted teams. Given my previous comment regarding Brentord, and also with a slight worry for Wolves, I don’t think it’s out of the question one of, or even both Leeds and Sunlun’ survive (just). But what of Burnley I hear you ask, well……..
6) Burnley to finish bottom and without Parker – Yes, they were promoted at a canter, but as long as I’ve got a hole up my ar*e, Scott Parker is not a Prem manager.
Of course, now I’ve said all that, Arsenal will win the Prem and CL double, United will finish 15th (again) and Burnley will finish 11th (just above Palace, because…… well, Palace) with Parker wining manager of the Season. Either way, it’s nearly time and I for one, can’t f*cking wait.
Andy FTM (I know I’ll regret saying this after he gets sent off for the 11th time on Boxing Day, but Granit Xhaka might just be the best £13 mil ever spent)
…I know no one cares what I think, but I’m bored, so…
Who will win the league? Liverpool repeat, but not by a lot, and said with zero confidence.
Rest of the top 4, in order? Arsenal, Man City, Aston Villa – a boy’s gotta dream.
Three picks for relegation? I just can’t see Burnley and Sunderland staying up. I’m not sure I see Leeds doing so either but one of Brentford or West Ham will give them enough hope. Actually, sorry, Brentford, you’re the third.
Which club will be a pleasant surprise? Bias may come into, but I think Villa are being slept on. Missed out on CL football by goal difference having got to the QF of said competition. Can rotate more and still compete in the EL having not really lost many of the core squad. A pleasantish early fixture run too. I mean, see answer two.
Who will win the Golden Boot? Oh. Hmmm. I may actually have to think about this for once… AFCON, Haaland might start slow, Isak may not start at all… Haaland pips Salah with a strong finish.
Which new signing will have the greatest positive impact? I think that Wirtz fella just be pretty good.
And which one will turn out to be a massive flop? I think Gyokeres and Sesko will do enough. I’ll say Cunha, but with no conviction.
Who will be the biggest bloody bargain? Well, this is anyone’s Guessand?!
Who will be named PFA Player of the Year? I can’t see it being Wirtz in year one and whilst the AFCON absence may affect Salah I’m still going to be sensible and say him.
Who will be the first manager to leave their job? Instinct say Keith Andrews but the Brentford hierarchy is probably too sensible to pull the trigger quickly. Hello Graham Potter!
Pick the Champs League winner? Real Pool. Paris Saint Munich. I don’t bloody know. Balls to it, Liverpool do a nice double.
Finally, in 5 words, tell me what you are most excited about? It seems pretty wide open.
Ta,
Gary AVFC, Oxford (the sun may have got to my head)
…I’ve cracked like the mind of a Republican who accidentally wandered into a drag show and got all excited about Friday’s big kick-off when I promised myself I wouldn’t.
So while my mind’s spinning faster than the White House’s press department I’d thought I’d commit my predictions to paper. Obviously if they turn out to be laughably wrong I’ll go full Trump and insist it was fake news, Biden made me say it, Obama actually wrote it down, Crooked Hillary sent the email and anyway football doesn’t even exist.
PREM CHAMPIONS: Man City – Pep hasn’t gone two seasons without winning the title in England so why start now. This is nailed on if they get one, or both, of Rodrygo or Donnarumma.
2ND: Arsenal – despite finally signing a striker I think they signed the wrong one and history shows they struggle to get over the line.
3RD: Liverpool – exciting new signings, especially Wirtz who could be their best player since Gerrard, will take a season to bed in. Also not defended a title in 40-odd years so why do we think they will now?
4TH: Chelsea – if they can whittle down their 200-man squad and land on a steady first XI they will be dangerous with key man Palmer shining. If they are the ones to get Donnarumma could finish as high as 2nd.
5TH: Aston Villa – Emery is one of the most under-rated managers in the world.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Liverpool – too good not to win anything major and they love the competition. Seeing Trent and Jude’s sad faces will spur them on.
FA CUP: Arsenal – it will save Arteta from the axe.
LEAGUE CUP: Liverpool – 2022 won it, 2023 not won it, 2024 won it, 2025 not won it, so 2026 is obviously won it.
EUROPA LEAGUE: Villa – Emery’s record in the competition is superb.
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Palace – got a taste of silverware now and Glasner is a great manager. Plus will really annoy Uefa after they demoted them.
FIRST MANAGER SACKED: Amorim after Man United pick up just 7 points from their opening ten games and the board finally comes to their senses and realise his rigid system just does not work in the Prem. By this point Shaw, Mount and Martinez are all out long-term injured again.
RELEGATED Burnley, Bournemouth, Wolves.
Jo (Isak to Liverpool will happen after the two clubs play on Aug 25) Kent
Here’s Ed on Crystal Palace at last
* Is the Community Shield a major trophy? Hard to say because usually it depends whether Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho or Arsene Wenger have won it or not.
* Obviously I did what every sensible person should do when their team is in the Community Shield and went to the cricket instead. Don’t be surprised if Joe Root and Ben Stokes miss games for England with an RSI from signing autographs to several thousand people, just appreciate that they stayed to sign for everyone who asked.
* Clearly it’s a preseason game so you can’t put too much stock in it, but there is something encouraging about being able to come back from a goal down against Liverpool twice. The nature of the goals were good, too. The penalty was won from some typical Palace play and the second goal was a high press, a defence-splitting pass from Adam Wharton to put Ismaila Sarr one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
* Oliver Glasner said to Guardiola after their second Premier League meeting that if Manchester City played that way in the FA Cup Final, Palace would win. Clearly, he also had a plan to beat Liverpool and, in something that vindicates one of my opinions if not one many others would share, it involved Virgil van Dijk. A lot of people would understandably force play away from the Best Defender in the World, but that is to buy into the hype instead of seeing with your own eyes.
For the past few seasons, van Dijk has been repeatedly guilty of ball-watching and many of the goals Liverpool concede, particularly against counter-attacking sides, come as a result of this.
For the first goal, van Dijk is supposed to be marking Jean-Philippe Mateta, but leaves him to lunge in at Sarr without getting the ball. There was no need to make that tackle, had he simply held his position in the line Sarr would not have been able to shoot. For the second goal, he is not the only Liverpool player suckered in. When Wharton receives the ball, van Dijk is isolated two on one by Mateta and Sarr, but is actually covering neither of them because he is only looking at the ball. Taking a couple of steps towards Wharton gives the Palace man enough time and space to realise Sarr is completely unmarked. If van Dijk holds his position in the defensive line, there is significantly less chance Palace score.
It says a lot for Alisson really that people don’t realise how frequently this happens, and a significant part of that is because the world’s actual best goalkeeper bails his teammate out so regularly that the mistakes don’t lead to goals.
* On social media before the game virtually every big Palace fan account was asking people to be aware that a silence was going to be taking place for Diogo Jota and Andre Silva, and that people should either get to their seats before it or wait on the concourse so they didn’t accidentally interrupt it. I’ve no idea why someone would deliberately interrupt a tribute like that and can’t quite believe it has happened. There’s been very little ill will between Liverpool and Crystal Palace over the years, something underlined by those fan groups encouraging people to support the silence (and by Liverpool and Everton fans singling out Palace for their absence of poverty chants), I don’t know why you’d want to change that.
* Speaking of ill will with Liverpool, we come to Notts “Nottingham” Forest. Again, it’s weird that a club without a history of being rivals with Palace should celebrate defeat at the CAS with the combined glee of winning the European Cup with Brian Clough and seeing Derby County getting relegated. Then again, despite the constant reminders in West Bridgford and beyond, we are a long way removed from that era of Forest. Towards the end of last season they were a bit like a Roy Hodgson team, blessed with some superb attacking talent but not really doing a lot of attacking, and not scoring many goals. How much longer that’s tolerated by their notoriously calm, measured and patient owner remains to be seen.
Forest fans have really shown their arse the past few weeks. Smugly saying “rules are rules” throughout Palace’s legal challenge, conveniently ignoring the rules they broke in open and shut fashion over the previous couple of seasons and complained like hell about being punished for. Palace’s challenge did have merit even if it was unsuccessful, although if history has taught us anything about Forest supporters is that they aren’t that keen on standing up to the authorities, or solidarity with others.
* At least now we can get on with the season, which starts away at Chelsea on Sunday. It wouldn’t be Chelsea if there wasn’t some sort of squad overhaul ongoing, but the players they do have are more than capable of winning the game. Palace meanwhile have a settled squad and a draw plus tie-breaker win over Liverpool under their belts, so it should be a fun one.
Ed Quoththeraven
READ: Relegation candidates Brentford one of six Premier League teams in ‘I fear for them’ territory
On the hypocrisy of Forest
As a Palace fan, the demotion from the Europa League stings. As it is surely clear to any reasonable, unbiased person, we are not one of the MCO’s that UEFA, in their rules at least, seem to be trying to prevent. The details have been well documented, but expecting Palace to have done something by that deadline when, by their own club’s setup, Textor had no decisive influence seems absurd for a club that was bottom-half and had never won anything or played in Europe before…. who then did their utmost to correct the situation and can now literally have no affect on the integrity of the competition, which surely is the whole point of the MCO rules.
But if ‘rules are rules’ is your thing, and for CAS it has to be, then it has been applied correctly. Yay UEFA! That will show them!
However, what rankles the most is the part Nottingham Forest played in the situation, the merits of which had absolutely nothing to do with them.
They saw a chance to acquire something they had in no way earned, and contacted UEFA to help ensure the scales were tipped in their favour. That’s a simple fact; take the bullshit out and there is no other reason for getting involved.
Now, let’s go back a couple of years… who was it who got into trouble over how unfair VAR was to them? They posted their views online about how unjust it was. As I recall, neither Crystal Palace nor indeed anyone else weighed in to ensure Forest lost out. It was not our business.
So Forest like everything to be fair… unless it benefits them to be otherwise. Well, ok, if that’s who you are, so be it. Just don’t go crying to the world the next time you feel you’ve been hard done by.
Rob Duffy
Sick of the Palace whine
Am I the only one who is tired of the Palace whining about Europe and still actually being in European competition?
UEFA told them how to get around the rules – oh but it was sent to a mailbox nobody monitors. You are a multi million pound organisation, every company in the world has an info type mailbox and nearly all of them monitor it, because you know the company set up the mailbox
Palace never thought they would qualify for Europe – at one stage there was a live scenario where 9 PL teams could qualify for Europe. When 3 teams in the league were utter muck, West Ham exist and you don’t think you are capable of snatching 1 of those you were probably right not to fill out the form
Textor exerts no influence – yeah rich guys who chuck their money at football don’t exert influence. Even that lad at Forest introduces contract extensions although he has no role in the club.
Drogheda United from the League of Ireland were chucked out of the Conference League for the same reason, they are in a multiclub structure with the mights of Walsall and Silkeborg IF. Drogheda qualified on November 10th 2024 by winning the FAI cup. Silkeborg qualified by being runners up in the Danish cup played on May 29th 2025. Silkeborg weren’t even in the same multi club structure on the date Drogheda won the cup. They lost their appeal to CAS, sucked it up and moved on. It cost Drogheda a minimum of €500k. To give context on how much this is worth, the prize money for winning the league is around €125k.
Palace are still in Europe, in a competition they could actually win, if they stop selling all their players!
Mel – Dublin, Berlin, Athlone
Something about transfers and wokeness
It’s the end of the world (transfer market) but not as we know it…
Wokeness and freedom of movement are going to contribute to a change in transfer policies in clubs.
If we look at some prominent and recent examples in Isak and TAA, it’s clear that clubs (businesses) can no longer rely on loyalty from their key employees.
At some point legislation changes will follow and notice clauses, similar to those that exist in normal employment contracts, will become part of footballers employment contracts.
Such clauses will likely only be executable in specific (transfer) windows but they will come. The courts will make this happen and it will change the way transfer markets operate.
Players will be free to change clubs and with it will come a greater degree of business uncertainty. Different constraints would be put in place, non-compete clauses could exist stopping a transfer to a club in the same league. Salaries would be incentivised to achieve loyalty, the longer you stay the more your paid.
The current situation just doesn’t seem sustainable, and as Bosman proved, radical things will happen at some point.
What could some of the craziest, or most sensible employment clauses be?
Chris
World-class chat
“World Class” – Are we actually just ALL wrong?
So, as well as apologising for the length of this missive, I will begin by saying – the one thing most do agree on is that there is no designation or definition of World Class on which everyone will agree on and my recent grumbles on the threads of the last few days about negativity around the subject are also, arguably, very wrong, depending on your point of view. That said, since the World Class article was published, and through the myriad conversations I’ve had since, I did want to try to figure something out.
Take a sigh…
Count to three…
What do we reveal about ourselves by what we deem “World Class”?
I love hot takes, just as much as I love hot cakes (and that’s a lot), and myself, Paches, Keef, Chazztopher, Micki, can all bellow out that Beckenbauer wasn’t world class, Antony would be World Class if he’d just be given the right service, Saka is bang average, or all football is barely watchable since 1997, but removing absolutely all individual opinion from the conversation…
Why does it matter what World Class is to each and all of us?
It’s not like Ollie “130k a week” Watkins actually cares that Johnny Gatekeeper thinks he’s world class or not when he’s played and performed at pretty much every level while earning more money in a training session than a whole F365 commentariat combined earns in a week, so why do WE think it matters? I’ll admit, I’ve actually had my heart-rate increase this week when discussing some of the wilder takes (probably the cakes, mind but still) but on reflection, I realised the problem was that my definition of world class is about inclusion and so because of that it became personal to me that someone would think Paul Gascoigne wasn’t a world class footballer, not because I care about Gazza, (though I do, god bless him) but because I will never not feel that moments of magic are just as important as rote consistency in our game.
To try to restrict who is world class, who is bargain bin, who is bang average, and who is Lee Cattermole, when definable boundaries are not clear, is to deflect yourself onto the discussion. Those that disclude goalkeepers clearly don’t value what a goalkeeper can do, but also might be fair to say are risk averse individuals… the kind who at 5 a side belts up the pitch, loses the ball then just turns and watches as his 4 mates get torn apart by his failings and shrugs. Those that want 300 players to be World Class are the intelligent ones who… I kid, obviously, but I am aware my desire to be inclusive shows a large part of my lack of standards. The fact I genuinely think the impressive careers of Milner and Barry, great as they were, haven’t left the same cultural impact on football that say, the short careers of Wilshere or Dele did… (now THAT’s a hot take.)
So for my part, while I remain resolute that “my” version of World Class is one that is more inclusive of the deficiencies of football (after all, what IS a perfect footballer?*) and allowing of bad days, I do want to make it clear that I appreciate some don’t like to colour outside the lines, or hear a bum note in a live album, and I am here for it, for it is our differences that make our sport what it is.
In the immortal words of Yoda himself, “World Class may be Beckenbauer, but appreciate him you may not”.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk
Harold Evanescence Hooler
* The answer is Lee Cattermole, it was always Lee Cattermole.
…Really interesting observation from Matt Pitt re: world class vs. good in their position. I was a bit surprised to see VVD (and Beckenbauer) in the latter list, but it got me thinking since Matt’s world class list had no defenders. Using his definition of talent evidenced anywhere on the pitch, what defenders were or are world class? Maldini? Baresi? Maybe Rio? But if not Beckenbauer, I think it’s hard to say any of these are world class too. Can defenders be world class or are we just putting the tallest four at the back and hoping for the best?
Niall, Annapolis
…I’m sure Matt Pitt means well, but when you say “very good in their position” about Beckenbauer, did you mean as a sweeper, centre back or centre midfielder?
Tom Barneby
A bathroom XI
I was in Manchester earlier this week for work, and my company booked me in for a night at Gary Neville’s hotel next to Old Trafford. Not a United fan by any stretch but it had 2 free cans of Vimto and a couple of Freddos in the fridge so Neville’s alright in my book. Or so I thought, until I checked out the bathroom.
Little packets of body wash, lotion, shampoo and conditioner were provided, and they’re in fun little packets that resemble a football shirt, how nice! Then I looked at the kit numbers, and the more I looked the worse it got. Shampoo was number 2, fine, I won’t argue but its partner conditioner was busy wearing 20-something. Body lotion took the number 8, with actual body wash rocking a number 11. These are obviously incorrect and so I decided to try and flesh out my own bathroom starting 11, I ran out of steam a little towards the end but if you’re reading this Gary, you’re welcome.
1 – Hand Soap – Not the most glamorous product but you always appreciate a good one and you won’t get far without it
2 – Toothpaste – Essential at both ends of the day
3 – Mouthwash – Holding up the opposite flank and just as important at both ends
4 – Floss/gum cleaners – Nobody’s favourite job but the best ones make a huge difference to your title aspirations/dental bills
5 – Facial Scrub – your number 4 needs a partner and your face needs to look good. It’s at this point I almost regret this idea.
6 – Body Wash – anchoring that morning shower. Now we’re back in business after a bit of a stretch for 5.
7 – Lotion – Adding some silky, scented flair to the morning routine
8 – Shampoo – A key cog but sometimes overshadowed by some of the lovely scented conditioners further up the field.
9 – Conditioner – the star of the show, the only reason my hair is ever acceptable for public display and the one we always spend the big bucks on.
10 – Deodorant – because I’ve run out of cleaning products.
11 – Aftershave – See above.
Manjo, LFC (I think I am supposed to say “and now show me yours!” but anyone posting any variance on those numbers is objectively wrong, and probably quite ugly)