PL Gameweek 4 🎮⚽

A long international break… 🥱😒

1. BHA 3-1 NEW
2. LIV 3-0 AVL
3. ARS 3-1 MUN
   • Aside On Tierney
4. Crisis Club Of The Week ? 🚨📉
5. Transfer Net Spend Charts 💵💵💵
   • Remarks
6. Endangered Everton ⚠️🔵
7. The Fault Of Signing Superstars ⭐
8. A Short Note
9. Fantasy 🔮

BHA 3-1 NEW

• There was a large gap between Newcastle’s midfield and defence, allowing Brighton to easily push through with the ball when on the counter.
  
  
• Very impressive how Brighton’s midfield could hold their own against a relatively formidable Newcastle. Their squad refreshment and team adaptability are stunning. They lost MacAllister and Caicedo, but Gilmour and Gross have stepped up marvellously, and they have made clever reinforcements in Milner, Pedro, Fati and Dahoud.
  
  
• Newcastle now face a difficult time—they have lost 3 games on the bounce and face very tough Champions League opponents. The international break comes at a good time for them to refresh and prepare their mentalities.

LIV 3-0 AVL

• With Diego Carlos injured and Aston Villa trailing by a goal, Aston Villa changed from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 by bringing on Bailey, which shifted McGinn out wide, Cash deeper into RB and Konsa into CB.
  
  
• Villa’s hesitance to press beyond the halfway line caused them to concede many chances, including the 2nd goal. TAA, who was listed as a midfielder in the most recent England call-up, had a field day as he endured little pressure when he inverted into midfield and held the ball.
  
  
• Liverpool were dominant, but Aston Villa can justifiably feel unlucky. They conceded from 2 corners and were forced to change their formation and game plan just 20 minutes into the match.
  
  
• Nunez followed up a brace last week with a pair of assists this week. Hit the woodwork twice. He paid tribute to his national team manager Bielsa. Suarez and Cavani, who in their prime are among the best strikers in history, have been omitted from the recent Uruguayan games. After being shifted to the left wing (in some games) to accommodate Suarez in the World Cup, Nunez will now be the main man of the Uruguay attack.
  
  
• Bad day for both Villa full-backs. An injury forced Cash deeper from his preferred wing-back role, and he knocked the ball into his own net. Digne endured boos from the home crowd due to his former Everton allegiance, and clearly did not enjoy dealing with Salah.
  
  
• Thiago still injured. He’ll find it hard to break into the starting XI.
  Recently found a quote by Pep Guardiola (at Bayern Munich), speaking to the press on signing Thiago: “I spoke to club about my concept and told them why I want Thiago. He is the only player I want. It’ll be him or no one.”
  
  
• Endo captained Japan to a 4-1 win over Germany on German soil. He was playing against the likes of Gundogan, Wirtz, Can, Gross and Kimmich in midfield.

ARS 3-1 MUN

• With Partey injured, Arsenal went back to their preferred back 4 of last season, and Gabriel finally got his first start of the season.
  
  
• Havertz has already been attracting criticism so early into his Arsenal career, and this performance did not help.
  
  
• Vieira racked up another assist off the bench. He has hardly started any league games, and it remains to be seen if, or how fast, he can supersede the struggling Havertz in the starting XI. Some players tend to be more effective off the bench, so it remains to be seen if Vieira can be as effective as a starter. Or will Arteta come up with some novel tactical construction? Would be interesting to see, if that occurs.
  
  
• Despite being mocked widely on social media for the situation depicted in the image above, Dalot had a good game. With Shaw and Malacia injured and Reguilon just signed, Dalot was forced into left-back, with Saka his most direct opponent.
  
  
• Martinelli played very directly and very well. If his opposite number were not Wan-Bissaka, one of the best one-on-one defenders in football, Martinelli would have had a field day running at Man Utd’s defence. This is what James Maddison said after Wan-Bissaka excellently contained a red-hot Mitoma: “AWB is ridiculously good at 1 v 1 defending. Probably the best in the world bar none. So many wingers run out of ideas when playing directly against him.” I remember when I first noticed him. I woke up at 3/4am to watch Crystal Palace vs Liverpool. He was directly up against Sadio Mane. I had never seen a player defend a winger like that before. Mane had no joy against Wan-Bissaka, who also impressed going forward in that game. He was a winger before becoming a right-back. The commentators were waxing lyrical about him. Wan-Bissaka even got a red card that game for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, but his overall performance still gained many plaudits. I wanted Liverpool to buy him (Liverpool could really do with a RB who can do basic defending). Man Utd stunted his development, however.
  
  
• Man Utd’s new striker Højlund showed some signs of promise. Man Utd fans can take consolation from that. However, their dressing room seems to be fractured. The Sancho, Greenwood, Antony and Maguire situations clearly do not help. Martial caught huge strays from Højlund’s post-match comments. I dislike this kind of characters, being arrogant and disrespectful to a teammate in public. Players should never say this, even if they’re Ronaldo or Messi.

Aside On Tierney

Kieran Tierney is a quality left-back, who tucks in his shirt like Rodri. However he has been loaned out by Arsenal to Real Sociedad. The problem with Tierney is that he is too traditional. In keeping with the Guardiola-Man City tradition, Arteta favours defenders who can take on multiple roles on the pitch based on the demands of the match situation. Of course, that doesn’t mean he shuns players who only play one position. Saliba and Saka have their positions nailed though they only play 1 position. But Tierney is a left-back who is not able to invert while Zinchenko is excellent at that. Timber and White are versatile too. That’s why Arteta bought this trio. Partey is also multi-functional, though I think he might displace Havertz in midfield.

Increasingly in the future, due to tactical evolution, there could be greater onus on players to be adept in multiple roles.

Crisis Club Of The Week ? 🚨📉

Sancho was not in the Man Utd squad for their trip to the Emirates. Ten Hag openly slammed Sancho for poor performance in training, and Sancho hit back at his manager, telling the public not to believe him. On Twitter, Piers Morgan asked if Sancho wanted an interview. Last year, it was an interview with Piers Morgan that was the last straw for Ronaldo.

Last year, Sancho disappeared for months, allegedly having been for a mental health sabbatical mid-season. Antony is currently entangled in yet another sexual assault case in Manchester. In a TV interview, he denied all allegations and cried.

I am highly suspicious of Sancho’s ability. He has been through 3 managers, and none of them are convinced by him. His performances haven’t been great either. Last season Ten Hag did well to oust Ronaldo, who was only going to be a burden.

Sancho used to be considered almost in the same light as Mbappe. Now, even Pellistri and Garnacho are preferred over the 90 million signing. Weghorst on loan for half the season had a bigger impact than Sancho in his whole time at the Man Utd. We have seen that stars can fall precipitously. Dele Alli used to be linked to Real Madrid. Let’s not forget about Anthony Martial too, who was hardly noticeable against Arsenal. He has a Ballon d’ Or clause in his contract! Even older, “proven” players, like Hazard can fall off so steeply.

Man Utd have just suffered defeats to Tottenham and Arsenal, and won against Wolves and Nottingham Forest unconvincingly. But saying they’re in crisis is an overreaction. Man Utd matched their opponent’s xG away at Spurs, spurning 2 good chances in the first half. Against Arsenal they only lost the game after being denied a late winner via a marginal offside call. These demonstrate the fine margins of football, and how people get too reactionary over small sample sizes, and without considering the underlying statistics. After all, the most extravagant spender in sports history can’t become that bad no matter how poorly they are managed.

Transfer Net Spend Charts 💵💵💵

From 2014-2023

Rank	Club	Net Spend/£M
1	Manchester United	1,196.6
2	Chelsea	885.5
3	Paris St-Germain	865.8
4	Arsenal	746.9
5	Manchester City	733.8
6	Newcastle United	575.2
7	Barcelona	568.4
8	Tottenham Hotspur	522.1
9	AC Milan	467.3
10	West Ham United	451.9
11	Aston Villa	414.3
12	Liverpool	395.3
13	Al-Hilal	391.3
14	Juventus	385
15	Everton	336.1
16	Crystal Palace	322.3
17	Bournemouth	294.9
18	Bayern Munich	294.1
19	Real Madrid	277.6
20	Nottingham Forest	265.8

Remarks

Tottenham are not as parsimonious as many believe. In the 2014-23 period, they built a 1 billion dollar stadium that had a retractable pitch and could hold many kinds of events, and its completion coincided with Covid. They took hundreds of millions in loans so it’s remarkable how they still managed to spend this much on players. With Spurs’ stadium expanding their productive capacity and revenue streams, Spurs could be a formidable force in the coming years, and they currently have the right kind of manager to make that happen. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been a much-maligned figure, but I feel he is a very astute director for the club. It’s no accident that he’s the longest-serving chairman in the Premier League.

Man City get too much flak for “ruining football”. See this. They have spent a lot, make no mistake, but they receive disproportionately more criticism than Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and even Tottenham and Newcastle. Of the traditional big 6, Man City have the lowest net spend per trophy, with Liverpool a few million higher in 2nd-last. I don’t think this data would change popular perception by much however. Man City are probably the most well-run club among the big boys.

Unruffled when I saw that Manchester United were the most profligate spenders, and by a large bit. They have spent 800 million more than their fiercest rivals Liverpool, and still lost 7-0 to them last season. Also look at the intensity at which Utd fans want their owners out. Shameless!

Let’s outline what 800 million can get you in today’s prices:

Player (s)	Price/£M
Enzo Fernandez	100
Gvardiol	100
MacAllister & Szoboszlai	100
Doku & Nunes	100
Kane	100
Bellingham	100
Bruno Guimaraes & Tonali with a gambling ban	100
Maddison & Van De Ven	100
Total	800

Endangered Everton ⚠️🔵

Gray and Iwobi, who are among Everton’s best attacking players, have ditched the foundering club for Saudi Arabia and Premier League rivals Fulham respectively.

I don’t think this is as bad of a move as some may believe, in the sense of battling relegation.

This undoubtedly hurts Everton’s squad depth. But they need income after years of large outlay but poor management. Moreover Everton will pretty much only be playing league games as they won’t pay much attention to the cups and will be out of them pretty soon. Expunging difficult characters like Gray, who openly lambasted Dyche, is a good move.

Everton lost Gordon earlier this year, but it wasn’t to a direct rival. With Maupay and Calvert-Lewin failing to fire, they have purchased Beto. Danjuma looks good, and McNeil will be back soon. Everton can also take consolation in that the 3 newly-promoted teams are very weak this season.

When you will be fighting for survival from GW1 to GW38, you must have a strong core of unassailable unity. It is detrimental to countenance errant voices, unruly attitudes or wayward motives.

The Fault Of Signing Superstars ⭐

Seems like Salah isn’t leaving, for now…

But if Salah were to leave for 150-250M, should Liverpool sign Mbappe? Should Liverpool have tried harder for Bellingham, who is on fire for Real Madrid?

I am strongly against such players coming to Liverpool. Superstars tend not to fit well with Premier League clubs. For instance Ronaldo’s 2nd stint at Man Utd was a farce. Similarly, Bale’s return to Tottenham was very exciting, but ultimately it did not help either the club or the player’s prospects. The Spurs legend practically treated his season there as a sabbatical. Signing James Rodriguez contributed to Everton’s current ruin, as did employing Ancelotti and Benitez as managers. Di Maria was ‘the big thing’ after his brilliant World Cup performances. He left Utd after just 1 season, and had thrived both before and after that forgettable period. Little needs to be said of Paul Pogba, an extremely divisive figure constantly embroiled in controversy and bad press, largely due to his superstar patterns and dreadful attitude. Man Utd were very happy to let him go for free (for the 2nd time) despite breaking the world transfer record to sign him, and Pogba has since been languishing at Juventus, even resorting to consuming illegal testosterone enhancements. Yet in the same period when he was being called a ‘virus’ by Jose Mourinho, Pogba was flourishing for France.

Outside the Premier League, PSG failed to simultaneously manage Mbappe, Neymar, Messi and Ramos effectively. Either the players did not excel enough, or they had too much leverage over the club. Clubs like Monaco, Benfica and Ajax simply do not have the finances and stature to hold on to the stars they produce.

There are only a few places in football that can handle superstars well and consistently. The MLS and SPL are a step down in intensity and a good place to get a final big-money contract. Messi, Gerrard, Rooney, Beckham and Henry played in America. Recently Saudi Arabia has emerged as a new destination for superstars. Ronaldo, Mane and Neymar have been lured there, with many others to follow suit.

On the other hand, Real Madrid and Barcelona are seen as the pinnacle of football. Ferran Torres had little qualms over ditching the tutelage of Pep Guardiola after just 1 season, to join Barcelona once they came knocking. Raphinha for sure got many offers but joined Barcelona which was a very big step up, and where he wasn’t guaranteed playing time. Gundogan left for Barcelona as Man City captain on the back of an extremely successful campaign. Modric, Bale, Ronaldo, Suarez, Kroos, Fabregas, Rudiger, Alaba, Coutinho all preferred their prime years to be spent at the Clasico teams, despite already playing for, and still being wanted by other big clubs.

It would not be good for Liverpool to sign Mbappe. The wage structure of the club would be decimated, dressing room dynamics could get turbulent, Liverpool’s up-and-coming stars could be eclipsed, and the detriments of extra media attention and scrutiny will spill over to the rest of the team. Superstars tend to create some kind of effect, which manifests positively only in certain habitats. Sure, there will be very thrilling moments with such stars playing for your team, as with Ronaldo, Bale, James, Di Maria and Pogba, but overall the influence is likely to be negative.

A Short Note

In recent times Mane and Wijnaldum wanted to take their careers to even greater heights. It may not have worked out for the two, but I wouldn’t regret their decisions if I were them, unlike what many football fans think. Footballers have short careers—they must take the opportunity when it presents itself, and not spend the rest of their lives wondering “what could have been” after retiring at 36 years old. They’ve got to take the plunge.

In any case, both of them have been doing well for themselves financially since leaving Liverpool.

Fantasy 🔮

• Nunez notches an FPL point every 3 minutes and 9 seconds, but the problem is his restricted minutes. If Salah leaves or other Liverpool attackers get injured, Nunez will be a great option.
  
  
• This week showed Haaland will always be the safest captaincy choice.
  
  
• Son is on my radar. If he nails down that centre-forward role, he walks into my team over Rashford and Fernandes. Still don’t know who is on penalties for Spurs however. Could be Son or Maddison. The risk of rotation with Richarlison or even Brennan Johnson may not be great as long as Son remains stellar, Spurs don’t have continental competitions and would see this as an opportunity to focus on regaining Champions League qualification.
  
  
• Will look to get Luton’s Morris in due to their good fixtures, his good form and a double gameweek against Everton and Burnley.