Premier League winners and losers

Daniel Storey

Winners

Richarlison
If we can never quite get to the stage where transfer fees don’t matter, we should certainly be at the point where a difference of around £10m is rendered virtually meaningless. What matters is that managers have the players that they believe they need to ensure success without putting the club in financial danger. Whether that player costs £28m, £35m or £42m isn’t actually that important, given the revenues of the clubs. If the player is successful then he was a good signing. If he wasn’t successful, he wasn’t. Judging a player’s value can only be done in hindsight.

Yet that message is still not getting through, and this summer’s lightning rod for gamesgone-itis was Richarlison. To repeat: it doesn’t really matter whether the Brazilian cost £30m, £40m or £50m. What is important is that Marco Silva considered him vital for Everton’s success and believed he could get the best out of a 21-year-old player with bags of potential.

Richarlison will have felt that pressure more than most. He will be acutely aware that rival supporters have mocked his inflated transfer fee and a number of Everton supporters will have frowned at it. Rather than starting at his new club with an air of anticipation and excitement, he would be forgiven for trepidation. The transfer fee means he is playing catch-up from day one.

Ninety minutes into the new season, those who were saying that his transfer fee was evidence of football’s lost soul have gone a little quiet. Here was the Richarlison of early 2017/18, his pace and movement – dipping between wing-back and central defender – making him impossible for Wolves to monitor. The Brazilian was in the right place at the right time for his first goal, but made the second himself. His quick feet and pace persuades defenders to back off and put their weight on the back foot in case they need to run towards their own goal. That allows Richarlison to use them as a guide with a curling shot.

“For me the money it is not important to talk about the money all the time,” Silva said after the game. “One club like us paid the money because that is his value in the market and it is not only our club paying this money for one player.”

Well exactly. Continue his good form, and suddenly everyone stops talking about Richarlison’s price tag. In the transfer-obsessed world of modern football, there are fewer greater compliments.

 

Naby Keita
James Milner was given the Man of the Match award and remains a timeless relic, but Keita could be Liverpool’s difference-maker. Even if a home game against a distinctly under par West Ham didn’t require much difference-making.

Liverpool’s front three were majestic last season, but they could be more dangerous still if Keita can be at his best at Anfield. In 2017/18, Liverpool often played with three regulation central midfielders or holding players, and so there was a gap between the midfield and the front three that was filled by one or more of the forwards dropping deep. In the case of Mohamed Salah, that worked out brilliantly.

Now, Liverpool’s forwards might be able to conserve some energy. Keita is potentially the best box-to-box midfielder in Europe, picking up the ball in central midfield and driving on to meet the forwards rather than them having to drop deep. With Fabinho sitting and one of Milner, Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson supporting, Liverpool’s only non-defensive issue of last season has its solution.

 

Daniel Sturridge
A scrappy goal and one that looked suspiciously like it was scored by a defender, but a goal all the same. Sturridge’s first club strike since November 2017, and he was the replacement for Salah. For now, Sturridge will be content with that status.

 

Wilfried Zaha
Only Crystal Palace know how close Zaha came to leaving Selhurst Park this summer, but the suspicion is that they were never considering accepting an offer for their best player. Only Zaha knows how close he came to trying to engineer a move away from Selhurst Park this summer. He would be forgiven for giving it serious thought.

Zaha is a game-changer, exactly the style of attacker that a high-end Premier League club would want to unlock deep defences and stretch tired ones. At Palace he is likely to be restricted to Premier League; at Tottenham he could have had Champions League football. There is nothing wrong with ambition.

And yet careers are not – or should not – be measured just in trophies, but by the difference you make. Nowhere can Zaha make a bigger difference that at his hometown club. Nowhere may he play better.

All summer Palace supporters have been biting their nails over the future of their talisman. By 5pm on the first Saturday of the new season, they were cheering another virtuoso display by the man they could never hope to replace. Wilfried Zaha is Crystal Palace; Crystal Palace is Wilfried Zaha.

Chelsea and a serene start for Maurizio Sarri
Our early winners, after jumping over the banana skin on the pavement and giggling as they skipped back onto the team coach. Chelsea were dismantled by Manchester City in the Community Shield, but using that as evidence of a difficult start to life in England for Sarri always seemed unjust.

Sarri has insisted (and did so again after the match) that he is not attempting to replicate Napoli’s Sarri-ball in west London. The Italian believes that he is flexible enough tactically to adapt to this change of circumstances. But there were still hallmarks of Napoli’s best bits in this comfortable, confident victory. The first and third goals were achieved after lightning fast counter attacks, while the move to England does not seem to have flustered Jorginho. His penalty was outrageously relaxed.

Clearly there are far higher hurdles to jump over, but Sarri will have been delighted with Chelsea’s early work. The key to the success of Chelsea’s managerial short-termism is each new head coach hitting the ground running. First impressions therefore take on added importance.

 

Raheem Sterling
No goals for England, but the first of Manchester City’s league season. Sterling was brilliant against Arsenal, back in an environment where he feels cherished. It’s no coincidence that the performance level automatically improves.

For far more on Manchester City’s win against Arsenal, go read 16 Conclusions. It’s why we do them.

 

Paul Pogba
An excellent start to the season, when he and Manchester United really needed it. Alongside an academy product and new signing, Pogba produced the mature midfield display that became the hallmark of his World Cup. No Premier League player completed more dribbles, as Pogba protected the ball and brought teammates into play. The penalty, accompanied with dressage-style run-up, indicates that the confidence is not lacking.

Pogba’s weekend comments about needing to play for people who trust him were so pointed that they could have made your finger bleed. The accusation from the player and his camp is that Jose Mourinho’s post-World Cup comments were unnecessary and petty. But if United are not going to sell – and it would seem highly unlikely – manager and star player must come to some accord. On the basis of Friday evening, perhaps Mourinho considers that Pogba produces his best when riled up.

 

Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof
That was their first start as a defensive pairing. Not bad.

 

Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino
The concerns of Tottenham supporters will not be allayed by an opening-day win over Newcastle. After ticket price rises in March and promises of ambition in May that were promptly broken in June and July, fans believe that Daniel Levy’s decision to stick rather than twist has weakened Pochettino’s hand unnecessarily.

But a win’s a win, and Tottenham’s summer inaction only increases the pressure on their early-season form. Fail now, when the World Cup stars are absent, and there will be 70,000 people in Wembley Stadium waiting to inform the club that they told them so.

 

Ross Barkley
His third league start since May 2017. Shame about Mateo Kovacic’s arrival on loan.

 

Watford and cohesion
I do not have enough hours in the day to determine the last time Watford started a season with ten outfielders who all played for the club in the previous season, but the point is this: After years of ludicrous short-termism and a regularly changing cast of players and managers, perhaps a little quiet is a good thing.

 

Luke Shaw
He did a senior goal! He started a league game! He didn’t get called fat by his boss!

 

Ruben Neves
Seven goals from outside the box since the start of last season. That’s bloody ridiculous for a 21-year-old. Or anyone, really.

 

James Tarkowski
Fifteen clearances, a total not beaten by any current Premier League player last season. The boy loves defending, and he’s at a club that lets him practise his hobby.

 

Jose Holebas
Five chances created, the most of any Premier League player this weekend, and two assists. There is some Holebas, girl.

 

Losers

Mike Ashley
It wasn’t that Newcastle were desperately poor – the opposite, in fact. Rafael Benitez’s team competed with Tottenham and put them under pressure in the second half, and the manager would consider his team unfortunate to lose their opening-day fixture. What Newcastle lacked was a spark. And that is what Ashley’s parsimony has cost them.

Newcastle’s starting XI was comprised of 11 players who appeared for the club last season, and eight who regularly played during their Championship season of 2016/17. These are committed professionals who Benitez has turned into a unit greater than the sum of their parts. But in the clutch moments of matches, when quality is needed to turn defeat into draw and draw into victory, they will be found lacking.

Another season has begun with supporters disillusioned. On the morning of the first match of the season, when the fevered anticipation of supporters should be at its peak, there were widespread protests by fans in the city centre. This is the house that Ashley built, where the bare minimum is considered good enough and where ambition is viewed with wary suspicion by an absent owner.

Second season syndrome
It’s easy to see how it might happen. If the Premier League title hasn’t been defended for ten years, with complacency cited as a factor, then the same might happen to promoted clubs that survive relegation. You either rest on your laurels (Newcastle), buy a collection of players to try and upgrade (Brighton) or double down on what worked before and hope it does again (Huddersfield). All come with inherent risk.

There is no shame in Newcastle or Huddersfield losing to Tottenham and Chelsea at home respectively, but three defeats for last season’s three promoted survivors only reinforces the principle that it doesn’t get any easier after the first objective is completed. This will be a long, hard nine months. Just like last time.

 

Claude Puel
At the end of last season, Puel was subject to a fan revolt. Had a survey been taken of the club’s season ticket holders, the majority would have expected a summer exit for their manager and a similar number would have agreed with that call.

But over the course of the summer, Puel has changed opinion at Leicester. He fought to keep his position, saw his best player leave and chose to reinvest the proceeds on younger players that he believes can be Leicester’s future. James Maddison, Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and Filip Benkovic – the four most expensive signings made by Leicester this summer are aged between 21 and 24.

Over time, Leicester supporters became convinced that Puel was the right man for the job. He had hardly wowed since being appointed, but had led the club away from relegation trouble and thus at least deserved a full season to disprove accusations that he played tedious football. At Old Trafford on Friday, Leicester attacked their opponents and caused United significant problems.

And then on Sunday, a national newspaper claimed that Puel has two matches to save his job at the King Power. Either the paper has unreliable sources, or Leicester are about to waste all their pre-season planning in favour of approaching Thierry Henry, a managerial novice. It’s a funny old game, Saint.

 

Cardiff City’s shooting
Cardiff’s strategy is no secret. They will sacrifice possession (37% on Saturday – the lowest in the Premier League), play a low number of passes (175 completed on Saturday – the lowest in the Premier League by 83) and look to play directly (61% passing accuracy on Saturday – the lowest in the Premier League by 8%).

It’s a tactic that might well work against some teams, but it does rely on Cardiff making the most of the chances that do come their way. One shot on target from ten shots is not a good start.

 

Fulham
Dominated possession and territory, created more chances and had more shots. But this is the Premier League, where if you don’t score then you will soon be punished for your profligacy.

 

Chris Hughton
In the summer of 2013, having consolidated Norwich in the Premier League after promotion, Hughton tried to change the pragmatic style of his team in a bid to upgrade what he had. On paper, the signings looked excellent: Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Leroy Fer, Nathan Redmond, Javier Garrido, Gary Hooper and Johan Elmander. But in reality, Hughton had changed too much. He was sacked in April, with Norwich relegated the following month having scored 28 goals and taken 33 points. Hughton had to battle to redeem his own reputation.

Now it’s way too early to say the same thing about Brighton, but Hughton has signed 11 players this summer, and seven of them will reasonably hope to feature in the first team. That’s an awful lot of change for a club that stayed up last season doing the simple things well. Even if you consider that upgrades were needed, eight of those players have come from abroad and will take time to settle. By then, Brighton could be playing catch-up.

On Saturday, they capitulated against a Watford team who are predicted to struggle this season. Brighton failed to have a single shot on target and forced only two corners. It was a worse performance than almost any other from last season.

Only one new signing started for Brighton at Vicarage Road, with two more coming off the bench. They will need to get up to speed, with their next two fixtures against Manchester United and Liverpool. There is no reason for alarm yet, but Norwich fans will be waiting to try and spot the familiar signs.

West Ham and Manuel Pellegrini
If Unai Emery realised by 6pm on Sunday the size of the rebuilding task that now faces him, Pellegrini beat him by at least two-and-a-half hours. Jack Wilshere did not work as an advanced central midfielder, Declan Rice did not work as a central midfielder, Arthur Masuaku struggled at left-back and Ryan Fredericks endured a torrid Premier League debut.

As with Arsenal, West Ham had an opening assignment to sharpen the focus. There is a mood to change, and it will take time.

 

Southampton
Having been embarrassingly profligate over the last two seasons, Mark Hughes’ task is to address that Southampton trend in 2018/19. So what happened on the opening weekend? Southampton had 18 shots but only three on target.

They shoot from too far out because they lack the creativity to break down a defence, and miss presentable opportunities just for good measure. Nothing has changed yet.

 

Harry Kane
Evidence not of some mysterious August curse, but of a striker who is still not fully fit following an injury-affected World Cup and lack of full pre-season. If only Tottenham had another option…

 

Daniel Amartey
Right lads, it’s a new season. First five minutes, keep it tight and don’t make any stupid mistak…oh.

Daniel Storey