Category: Analysis

From even the start of the season is was inevitable that Manchester City were going to do something special this Premier League campaign.

They strengthened well in the areas which they struggled with last season, bringing in Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Danilo with Aymeric Laporte moving later on in January.

Having under achieved in 2016/2017, with Guardiola’s men only managing a third place finish and a Champions League round of 16 exit, fans across England were wondering if Pep’s style of football would work on a cold Tuesday night at Stoke.

However, Pep proved us wrong.

The signing of Ederson massively helped and the creativity and flair of their  attack and the solidity of their defence proved too much for sides below them.

They stormed through the league, scroing 102 goals this season, and they still have two games to play against bottom half table teams. Furthermore, City have only lost twice this season in the league, against Liverpool and United.

The scary thing for other top Premier League teams is that City will strengthen even further in the Summer and it will be hard for other sides to match their brilliance.

 

England will face Belgium, Tunisia and Panama at the World Cup in 2018, in Russia. They got drawn in the Kremlin on Friday evening by Diego Maradona, who pulled them out of a hat.

England’s toughest game will be against Belgium on the 28th June with the Three Lions having to face fellow club compatriots such as Vincent Kompany, Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Kevin Mirallas, Moussa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen. And for the Evertonian Englishmen, there could be a reunion with former manager Roberto Martinez, now boss of Belgium.

Another team England will play will be Panama who are playing in their first World Cup ever – something which meant so much to them that the president gave the nation a one day holiday.

Lastly, England face Tunisia who they have been drawn against before- in the 1998 World Cup.

England will have to try to prove themselves in this tournament having been knocked out in a group consisting of Costa Rica, Italy and Uruguay, poor for the expectation which surrounded the tournament, not forgetting that they got knocked out by Iceland in the Euros at just the Round of 16 stage.

In other fixtures, Portugal will play Spain in a tense and high-profiled game in what is commonly being called the group of death; Brazil will play Switzerland in another tough group also consisting of Serbia and Costa Rica and finally Nigeria will clash with Argentina for the fifth time in all of Nigeria’s six World Cup appearances.

So my overall view of this draw is that England will be pleased because they have avoided any big teams and there are lots of extremely strong groups and there will be incredibly exciting action happening in Russia.

Following PSG’s 3-0 crushing victory over Bayern Munich in Europe this week the French team are becoming a real force in Europe.

After three years of only reaching the quarter final in the Champions League under Laurent Blanc, PSG rightly decided change was needed – so appointed Unai Emery instead.

Following a disappointing first season for the Spanish manager in which they got knocked in the early stages in Europe and got pipped by Monaco for the title, rumours were flying around his sacking.

However, he managed to keep his job and stayed on to fulfil his two-year contract at the club.

Furthermore, PSG did extremely well in the transfer window, buying players like Mbappe, Neymar and Alves, replacing positions which were vacant after several key men left.

This positive summer spending can be seen in their form having been unbeaten in the league this season and after just recently defeating Bayern Munich.

So they are currently a real contender for the Champions League and a huge force to be reckoned with.

After a disappointing season last year Manchester United are trying to prove their doubters wrong by winning the title and here are a few reasons why they’ll achieve that objective.

Firstly, they have recruited well signing a top class striker in Romelu Lukaku, an impressive centre midfielder in Nemanja Matic and a solid centre back in Victor Lindelof without completely blowing the budget like their Manchester rivals did.

Also, they have stability in every area of the pitch and no major weaknesses, which has been the difference for clubs in the past years of winning the league or not.

Lastly, they have young talent coming through who have been developing in the past few seasons on loan and can prove their worth this year.

However they will face tough competition from other clubs, but Mourinho’s team must prove they have the fighting spirit to win the league.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has spoken about his concern for overpriced players and has said it is reaching a dangerous level.

“I always thought the problem is not what you pay for this kind of player, I don’t think the problem is what you pay for Pogba. I don’t think the problem is going to pay crazy for Neymar,” Mourinho told reporters in Washington DC, during their pre-season tour of America.

“I think the problem is with the other group, which is a big group because players like Pogba there are one or two big transfers like that per transfer window. The other ones are where you have 100 transfers, and for me that is the dangerous area of the transfer market.”

And Mourinho believes the best approach taken in the current window has come from Spurs, who have yet to make a signing and have accepted a £54m bid from Manchester City for Kyle Walker.

This news comes after a reported £160m deal with Mbappe moving to Real Madrid.

Manchester United have splashed out £106m this summer to sign Lukaku and Lindelof.

But Mourinho said in response “This season we spent a lot of money on a striker. If we don’t do that, we have no striker,”

“Next season we are not going to spend a lot of money on a striker. This season we had to do it. Investment is overall and it is every team.”

After an exciting 2016/2017, here are three of my standout players from the season.

1. Harry Kane, Tottenham

Once again Kane delivered and although he couldn’t fire Tottenham to the title he was electrifying throughout this year. The striker scored twenty-nine goals even though he was injured for quite a bit of time and won the Golden Boot, making him join Premier League legends as players who have won the award on multiple occasions. The Englishman has delivered a message to people that he will be one of the league’s best players for a long time and that he wasn’t just a one-season wonder.

2. N’Golo Kante

Kante is an absolutely brilliant player, but doesn’t grab the headlines. He works extremely hard and wins the ball back a lot. He has helped Chelsea massively and they might not have won the title without him. The Frenchman has now won the title in two successive seasons and I’m sure his exceptional form has got some European clubs interested in buying him.

3. Alexis Sanchez

Although Arsenal’s season was disappointing, Sanchez was their bright spark. He scored twenty-four goals and got ten assists, which makes him joint top in the combined race of both stats. Unfortunately for Arsenal, Sanchez could be leaving the club this summer after a few top teams may try to lure him away from the Emirates.

Walter Mazzarri has been sacked by Watford, and will end his stay at the Hornets on the final day of the season. The owners, the Pozzo family, have a history of sacking managers frequently and the next boss will be the ninth in five years.

Mazzarri has been at the club for just one season after taking over from the harshly sacked Quique Sanchez Flores.

Watford have lost their last five games and are currently 16th, six points off relegation.

However, I still don’t think Mazzarri should have been sacked.

Watford have shown some signs of promise, and your team has to have a fair bit of talent to be able to beat big teams like Arsenal and Manchester United.

Also, if Watford are going to progress as a club they’re going to have to stop changing manager and try to recruit better ones too, so they don’t have to sack them so frequently.

If this roller-coaster of managers is not going to end then Watford’s league position is definitely not going to improve.

Since John Terry, a faithful legend for Chelsea, will be leaving the club after nineteen successful years this season here are a few of his best moments.

First Premier League title win, 2005

Terry won his first Premier League title in 2005 and this trophy was just a starter of the ones he would pick up as he went on to win it four more times.

PFA Player of the Year, 2005

In the same season he won the league, Terry won the PFA Player of the Year, one of the very few defenders to win the prestigious award. He also scored eight goals throughout that year and his goal against Barcelona in the Champions League is famed.

Champions League win, 2012

After missing a penalty which would’ve made Chelsea win the trophy in the 2008 Champions League final he went on to finally win the competition in 2012. However, though he played a vital part in most of the campaign, he had to sit out in the final due to a ban.

Another FA Cup, 2012

Terry won the FA Cup for a 5th time in 2012 and led the team to victory in Wembley against Liverpool.

There were a few big summer transfers and this is how they’ve fared this season.

Paul Pogba, Manchester United

Pogba’s huge transfer fee meant that he had high expectations from United and although the midfielder has potential, this season has been a disappointment for him. The young Frenchman played a lot at the start of 2016/2017, but his average form has got him dropped in the previous few games and he’ll have to do better next season to live up to the hype.

Leroy Sane, Manchester City

Unlike Pogba, Sane didn’t start the season very well and a few injuries didn’t help either. However, Sane has played a lot more recently and is explosive on the wing, especially when playing with fellow youngster Raheem Sterling.

Sadio Mane, Liverpool

Mane has been excellent since signing and has scored thirteen goals and five assists this season in an unstoppable Liverpool attack. Unfortunately the Senegalese forward has had his end of season ruined with an injury, but we’ll hope to see him back in action on pre-season tour.

N’Golo Kante, Chelsea

Kante has been immense every moment of 2016/2017, and has repeatedly performed two seasons running. The Frenchman definitely deserves the PFA Player of the Year award.

Moussa Sissoko, Spurs

After being excellent for Newcastle last season Spurs signed Sissoko up. However the winger has been a huge disappointment and has not even scored for them in any competition.

After getting relegated, there are lots of questions being asked about Sunderland’s main men at the club and here is how the future is looking for them.

Jordan Pickford

The young goalkeeper got put into the team after Mannone got injured and has stayed there since. Playing exceptionally well and helping keep the scoreline down on a number of occasions. His good form has now alerted the attentions of a few big clubs who are sniffing around him and are making it almost certain that he will not stay at Sunderland next season.

Jermain Defoe

Defoe has scored fourteen Premier League goals this season-an impressive calibre for a thirty-four year old playing for a team at the bottom of the table. This excellent season for the Englishman has got him some attraction from Bournemouth and he may still have a few seasons left playing.

David Moyes

Moyes was appointed manager not very soon before the season started, replacing Sam Allardyce, and his stay at Sunderland has not been a very successful one. His signings have been poor and just three years ago he was appointed manager at United, now he could be jobless.

Ellis Short

With the disaster of relegation, Sunderland owner Short could be forced to sell the club. But if he doesn’t sell then he’s going to have to provide whoever the Black Cats’ next manager is with a fair bit of cash because they definitely need to rebuild their team.