New But Still The Same

The new Premier League season started this weekend, incase you hadn’t heard, and everyone thought it would start in frenetic fashion with predictable about it.

However, so far it seems like many things are staying the same despite 9 of the 20 teams starting with new managers, including newly promoted Ipswich Town.

Manchester City may have a new manager, but they still found a way to win, whilst their neighbours continued their proud tradition of falling to pieces as soon as they make a interim coach permanent.

Newcastle and Liverpool both entertained without winning, whilst Brentford and Brighton both showed why they are able to punch above their weight in this league with transfer strategies that can rebuild battered squads to continue to look like challengers in the top half.

We also had Spurs, who started this season having spent big to bolster their squad only to end the first game looking like relegation fodder for the 2nd season in a row as Brentford beat them 3-0 without breaking a sweat, despite Igor Thiago missing a penalty.

Who knows though maybe this time they’ll turn it around quickly and get back to where they think they belong.

They weren’t the only team falling apart though as the West Midlands continues to provide the teams in trouble from the off.

Last season it was Wolves but this time around it’s reigning Europa League champions Aston Villa that looked lost in this league, as Brighton picked them apart in the first half at the Amex to go in at the break 4-0 up and with a man advantage to boot.

Villa even have a brilliant striker who doesn’t seem to want to play for them, did no-one tell them Wolves got relegated and should not be emulated?

Coming into the season people thought that emulation would be fulfilled by Hull City, who some even backed to usurp Derby County’s unwanted record, but it seems no-one told the Tigers.

It’s a well known fact that you don’t want to visit the newly promoted teams at the start of the season as the players are all looking to prove themselves at this level and the fans are still running high on the ecstasy of promotion and it proved to be that way again for Hull, who pulled off a famous 2-0 victory against Manchester United.

Beating Man U used to be a difficult and glorious accomplishment, but these days it’s just more of the same everyone else is doing.

The other newly promoted team to be playing at home also won, with Ipswich shrugging off their managerial merry-go-round to snatch 3-points off the much more stable Sunderland in the 90th minute. That belief of the newly promoted supporters dragging the ball across the line for the Tractor Boys.

With one more game of the opening weekend to go there is still a chance for something out of the ordinary to happen and with Xabi Alonso at the helm Chelsea may even actually stand a chance of making a team out of their expensive and extensive squad, now wouldn’t that be unexpected.

The new season is here, bring it on.