2022-23 Premier League Kit Review

The return of the Premier League is upon us. For once, I thought i’d take a look at the kits for the upcoming season. I’d usually take a look at the teams and make a poor prediction of where they will all end up. However, this season I will take a different view and inspect a part of football that has taken more prominence in the post-covid era of football: Merchandise. To be fully sustainable, a club must do it’s best to make as many revenue streams as possible and a lot of them have tapped into football fashion. Being an Arsenal fan, i’m constantly reminded of how brilliantly our team is dressed, not just in kits but with training wear. We’re accused of sometimes being a fashion brand first and a football team second! Adidas have done wonders after our poor showing under Puma. So let’s take a look at what everyone is offering up this year and get involved in some lighthearted fun and rank them from 20 all the way up to 1, everyone loves to attach a numerical value to things so let’s get started.

20. Liverpool

The least creative of the bunch, it feels like they’ve had the same home shirt for years, the away shirt has an ugly neck line and looks tacky. Now i’ve dug them out for their shirts I bet they’ll go and win the bloody league now…

19. Everton

It’s bad enough they have some of the worst dressed players in the country, they have now done it with their kits as well. The home kit is pretty basic, it’s not bad but they haven’t really changed it up from last year. The away kit is terrible, it’s messy, i’m not sure what the shapes are supposed to be and it’s fucking pink. Everton’s away kit is traditionally yellow and blue or white, why have they jumped on the pink bandwagon. If you’re going to use pink, use it as an added detail not the primary colour.

18. Chelsea

The weird shoulder section makes it look like it doesn’t fit nicely, the contrasting collar isn’t nice and again it’s so basic. I actually preferred their home kit last year to this. I should point out the Away Kit hasn’t been launched yet and this is just a leak, but leaks are usually spot on and it’s woeful. I’m not sure what they were going for, maybe the lines represent something? Someone explain it to me. They’re both lacking, Chelsea fans can only hope the third kit saves it for them.

17. Crystal Palace

Now I actually quite like the home kit, it’s original, it’s shaken up the stripes as there is only so much you can do with stripes and I quite like the collar and cuffs detailing. However, the other two are lazy. The Away Kit looks like it’s been scribbled on by a toddler and rather than design something different for the third kit they’ve stayed with the scribble but just done it diagonally. It was literally a hot friday afternoon and someone just went ‘yeah, that’ll do’. The only consistent thing I like across them are the collars.

16. Nottingham Forest

I’m happy that Forest are back in the Premier League after such a long time out. However, I couldn’t let them go any further up the list due to the fact they’re starting their first season back without even securing a kit sponsor. I mean it’s a throwback don’t get me wrong, it’s the most original out of them all but they had no choice and it wasn’t their decision! The Home Kit has a weird collar but I like the sleeve and side combo. They stuck with the same design for the away kit, which i’m not completely against, but it looks like a Norwich reject kit. They could have done something all over two tone which would have been a nice touch but they opted with this instead. Someone please sponsor them, even if it’s a local fish & chip shop, someone, anyone.

15. Brighton & Hove Albion

I will start with the positives, I like the Away Kit. It’s something a bit different, don’t see many kits this colour, it’s a nice contrast with the black and I like it when the change the club badge to blend in with the kit. Now what about that Home Kit? It’s just shit isn’t it. There’s no other adjective I can think of to describe it. The yellow looks out of place on there and the big blocks of blue aren’t pretty, this seems to be a running theme with all of the Nike kits this year. Relegation worthy.

14. Leeds United

I quite like this entry, yet I can’t rate it much higher as we’re less than a week away from the start of the season and they haven’t released an Away kit as of yet. They’ve stuck to a consistent colour scheme, it’s got a nice collar and is traditional. The Away Kit could literally go either way but if Arsenal is anything to go by this season, Adidas will drop a beauty.

13. Tottenham Hotspur

The Home Kit isn’t the worst in the world, I like that they’ve kept it simple, the little contrasting pattern all over, the traditional colours accented with a little yellow for the collars and cuffs. It’s not terrible which is exactly the word i’d use to describe that awful excuse of an Away Kit. The flourescent yellow is garish and doesn’t go with the whole colour scheme, the little strip just below the throat looks disjointed and they could have at least made the sponsor and crest the yellow colour if they were going to make a thing of it. The only positive is the central position of the crest, if they were clever they’d have put the crest below the Nike badge as the basketball (joke) would look like a dot to the I of the AIA sponsor but that’s just me. Also it’s Tottenham, I expect them to be shit. Sorry had to be done.

12. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Castore have come a long way in the last couple of years and are slowly becoming a good brand within top level football. These are both solid efforts for a mid table team, they changed up the home shirt well and whilst i’m not a lover of the light bluey colour they’ve used for the Away Kit they’ve got a funky little pattern which accompanies the simple little pinstripe on the cuff. It didn’t blow me away which is the only reason it didn’t make the top ten.

11. Southampton

Considering they’re not a top tier designer, Hummel have done a good job on the Home Kit, personally don’t think the white to red ratio is correct but if you can look passed that, it’s a solid entry to the list. Also gonna give a shout for the central crest, it’s a personal preference. The Away kit is different and creative but i’m not a big lover of it. Again I don’t expect a lot from them though.

10. Brentford

I quite like both entries here. The Home kit is traditional and has a nice neck line but isn’t massively different from last year. The Away kit looks kind of like a training kit as opposed to a serious Away kit, yet I like it in an understated kind of way. I like the fact they switched up the club crest to their old style, it gives a contrast between the two kits and gives supporters a choice. I feel like they could have done more with the Away kit but it’s out of the ordinary and that’s why it’s bumped up the list.

9. West Ham

We’re getting into the business end of the list. Again these both look kind of like training kits but I like them both for different reasons. I might be wrong but it looks like they’ve changed the shade of Claret on the Home kit and they’ve actually done something with the shoulders (take note Nike), mixing it up with their traditional blue and put some dashes of white in. The Away kit has a retro feel and i’m all for it. It’s not doing much but at the same time it’s not trying too hard. Another reoccurring theme, I like the coloured crest and when done nicely the accenting pink on the cuffs isn’t over the top and looks good. Much like Arsenal’s black and pink third kit a few seasons back, it just works.

8. Aston Villa

Castore again delivering at the top level. Simple yet effective on both kits. My only hope is that they try something slightly more drastic on the Home kit next season, I like that they’ve kept the traditional colours close to home on both. I like it.

7. Fulham

That Home kit is a switch up from the norm for Fulham who are another of those teams that you kind of feel they do the same thing most years. The more prominent red looks brilliant and whilst fans are still debating about whether gambling sponsors should be allowed, this should be a welcome distraction and should sell well. The Away kit is nice, my only gripes are that the back doesn’t look finished and the pattern looks deliberate and could have been more blended but both very minor details which shouldn’t detract from what is a nice kit.

6. Leicester City

A throwback to 90s collars is a welcome addition to this Home kit. It’s a safe entry as there’s not much going on with it but I just can’t get enough of the collar. Leicester don’t as of yet have an Away kit but they have released a Third Kit which is a beaut. Loving the gold and crimson colour scheme, main body is white with textured swirls, it’s got it all going on. I’m a big fan of this Adidas entry which is why it’s ranked so high.

5. Manchester City

Puma have been dogshit for City, there’s no two ways about it. This season they have done amazingly. Let’s start on the Home kit. The central crest, the deep wine red accents, it all works. They haven’t tried to go mad, they changed it subtlety and is a massive improvement. The Away kit is a retro kit taking them back to what I remember City having when I was younger (before they were rich). Black and red stripes is simple yet traditional, the gold sponsor and crest go well. Solid effort by Puma who are a shitty yard stick for kit designs usually.

4. Manchester United

Both Home and Away ooze retro 90s class. The switch back to the older crest with shield surround is brilliant. The Home collar again screams retro and is an actual collar. The Away collar is sleek and runs the white black and red colour scheme throughout. The switch up with the interchanging red and black three stripes on the shoulders is a welcome departure of the uniform white or black Adidas usually use on all kits. Very hard to keep out of the top 3.

3. AFC Bournemouth

The Home kit is Umbro’s best work for a lower tier kit designer. I would have been happy with this as an Arsenal fan (if the black was switched to white). It’s snappy and looks mean. It’s everything a newly promoted club should want (and they’ve actually got a sponsor unlike Forest!). The Away kit has some weird jungle theme which suits the summer nicely and when it gets to the cold wintery months, they have this quiet simple Third kit. The Sponsor, crest and Umbro logo should have all been gold and it would have been pure (spolier alert see Arsenal’s bronze and black third kit, money maker). This is an outstanding effort by Umbro and I look forward to what they offer next season.

2. Newcastle United

The Away & Third Kits are Castore’s best work so far. They stand out and look good on. Whilst the home kit is a bit samey, this is a big step for Newcastle as they attempt to become a ‘big club’ again. Brand management is key in today’s climate and if you want to become a big team then you need to produce a shirt that fans will want to wear if you’re planning on splashing out in the transfer market and getting big names. If they can add a snappy Home kit next season and do something a bit different with the traditional black and white stripes, then they could be onto a winner.

1. Arsenal

Of course it’s Arsenal. It’s not even a biased thing, we’ve consistently churned out brilliant kit after brilliant kit the last few seasons and this season is a record breaker. Our Black and Bronze Away kit has become the fastest selling kit on it’s opening day ever. The home kit is class with Adidas supplying us with a retro collar much like Manchester United’s and the third kit is very popular amongst the fan base. I’m not a massive fan and feel they could made the little paw prints that contrasting navy blue colour. It would have made it really pop as opposed to being a big pink blob, which is what you’ll see everywhere because no one really wears a full kit other than the actual team. As a standalone item the shirt isn’t amazing and also they’ve got pink socks rather than navy which also is overkill. But overall the Home and Away kits are far and away the best.

I’m quite impressed with what Premier League teams are offering in general and with a few tweaks could easily be the best kits on the world stage. It looks set to be the best season yet with plenty of big name strikers vying for the Golden Boot.

If you’ve got this far then thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed my very poor and brief foray into fashion blogging!

Answers Needed

The most divided fanbase is unquestionably Arsenal. For once though, i’m not entirely sure why? At the beginning of the season, in the transfer window we bought exactly what the Wenger Out fans have been screaming for. A strong CDM (Xhaka) who wasn’t cheap (Wenger Out fans cry about Arsene not spending), a world class CB (Mustafi) who wasn’t cheap either and finally a Striker (Lucas Perez) who even though he hasn’t featured much, has shown every time he’s on the pitch that he was worth every penny. Now to me, Arsene answered all the critics in this respect, by ‘splashing the cash’ and buying in every position that needed strengthening. I genuinely thought we had a chance to fight for all the trophies going this season and as a fan you have to believe that, otherwise you aren’t truly supporting your team. After a disappointing first game of the season, we then went 17/18 games unbeaten (I think). We then lost back to back games. Firstly, against Ronald Koeman’s Everton, who were well organised and every manager has a bogey manager, Koeman is Wenger’s as everyone knows. We then went away to City who have according to some, the best manager in world football and we only lost 2-1, away from home. Following that we went unbeaten in UCL group stage, even against PSG who have just showed Barcelona up.

Currently we are off the pace by 10 points in the league, which yes is an issue but it’s definitely not over. Bearing in mind we beat Chelsea and they beat us cancelling each other out, so nothing was lost at Stamford bridge which I think fans are forgetting. I understand that to win the league you have to beat the big teams, I don’t believe in excuses but Bellerin was knocked out, if that goal doesn’t go in then what might have happened you never know, the complexion of the game would have been completely different. Admittedly, Chelsea are good at home and we would have been lucky to get a win but to think we couldn’t have got at least a draw is disrespectful to our players.

We are still in a winnable FA Cup. The media are trying to downplay Arsenal’s chances and angling for a giant killing, especially in the wake of the defeat at Bayern but why are people stacking up the pressure against one of the most successful managers in the FA Cup full stop? Yes Sutton have home advantage and a shitty 3G pitch, poor facilities and low ticket allocation for away fans. Yet we will put out a 80% strength squad, probably close to the team that smashed Southampton 5-0. I have noticed so much non-news recently in regards to Arsenal and Arsene, it’s almost like the media is out to get us constantly and will make a story out of nothing.

Now in regards to the question that is floating around at the moment, should Arsene go? This poses a very difficult question for me being a Wenger In fan. In short I don’t think he should leave. Not right now, I think he should go at the end of next season. There are so many different factors involved to make a snap decision like the media and Wenger Out fans want. It’s reactionary and unnecessary, especially when it all hinged on a single game. I hear and understand fans frustrations, i’m a fan too. But do you really think destabilising the club at a time like this will help in any way? If anything we need to be together at the moment with important run ins coming up, the only thing that matters at the moment is a full stadium and to get behind the players so that we get back to winning ways.

The way it needs to go is at the end of the season Arsene Wenger sits down with the board and sets out a plan of devolution. It’s not as simple to just bring in a new manager. Arsene basically runs so many different bits of the club, a new manager coming in can’t take over every single aspect of his job as he’s been there for so long, there needs to be a transition period where Arsene slowly delegates his many jobs to other people. Get the right people in place to run the club so that he can purely focus on his final season as just a manager. Then at the end of the season hand over the reigns to another manager with the club in the best possible shape so the new managers job is easier and can take the club onto the next level. As I believe the end goal is for Arsenal to become a Supergiant, it has to be the long term goal. They wouldn’t have put so much effort, time and money into creating Arsenal the brand. We have a huge stadium, the 7th highest revenue in the world, one of the biggest fanbases in the world and a team capable of getting into the UCL every year. The only place left to go is get another world class manager, buy world class players in every position and go for the Champions League, not just once but prolonged success. That is the business model I believe they will aim for.

This takes me onto the next part, who could come in and make that transition work? Me personally, don’t laugh but on a 3 year contract I think we should go for Mancini. The simple reason why is that he 1. Has Premier League experience and has won it. 2. Has some Champions League experience. 3. Knows what it takes to juggle the two (most foreign managers can’t grasp the winter period e.g Pep & Klopp) 4. Has a great win percentage and record. 5. Plays an attractive style of football (which is imperative to appease fans). Now I know no one will share my view so let’s assess the other options out there.

1. Diego Simeone – The logical choice. Fighting off Real & Barcelona every year takes a lot, especially when they won La Liga. Sustained attacks in Europe, winning Europa League and getting to the final of UCL twice in 3 years, an amazing win percentage and also has a backbone and wouldn’t think twice about shaking the team up with some emotion. The downsides – He has no experience of the Premier League, a poor defensive style of play that i’m not sure that fans will trade attractive football for trophies (winning ugly), there’s only so many times you can shout at players to provoke a response. If we were to get him I believe it should only be on a three year contract.
2.  Thomas Tuchel – This is a strange one for me, he’s come out as favourite pretty much and I can’t see why? Sure he’s manager of a big club like Dortmund, he’s got them scoring but if you couldn’t get Reus & Aubameyang to score then you shouldn’t be a manager! He’s not excatly setting the Bundesliga on fire and hasn’t even won half of his games. He got to the Quarters of the Europa League and is through to the Last 16 of UCL this year. He had one good season last year and has a different approach to tactics which are his only good traits.
3. Joachim Low – He plays amazing football with the German national team, he’s got a good win percentage overall, however if you look at his domestic record it’s not amazing, he won the Austrian League the same year as our Invincibles and took Stuttgart to 4th twice in the late 90s. Yes he’s won the World Cup but it’s a different ball game (excuse the pun) in the leagues. This would be a massive gamble plus he likes smelling his own balls!
4.  Eddie Howe – I understand this one, yet it won’t work. He gets the most out of Bournemouth because of the structure in place at the club and he runs the club with 4 or 5 ex-players as his backroom staff. He plays some attractive football and has achieved well whilst having restraints in regards to players. Yes he’s English and it would be good to see an Englishman in a top job in England! I’m all for giving opportunities but you should get in on merit and Eddie’s record doesn’t speak for itself.
5. Max Allegri – He’s had it so easy, he inherited an AC Milan team he did well with and then took over Juventus with unlimited amounts of money, he’s won 3 league titles in his time in management but his style of football is dull running a 3-5-2 system. He’s been through to the Last 16 in UCL just as many times as Wenger, even though he reached the Final his first season with Juventus. The club would be much the same under Allegri and wouldn’t be seen as making a step forward.
6. Leonardo Jardim – Only in his early 40s, he’s travelled around a bit, though he’s got a good point percentage overall and plays quite nice football, his European record isn’t amazing. Although saying that I reckon with the structure and resources that Arsenal will have in place, he could excel. Probably my my 2nd or 3rd choice, it wouldn’t be a bad move for Arsenal.
7. Roger Schmidt – Finally, low down on the list with having only won an Austrian Title and Austrian Cup. Stable Top 4 finishes with Leverkusen and through to the Last 16 2 out of 3 seasons, not exactly the profile of someone a club of Arsenal’s stature should be looking at in my honest opinion, yet he’s been ‘shortlisted’ or linked with the club so I included him.

Whatever the outcome at the end of the season whether he stays or goes, no manager that comes in should be expected to create instant success and should be given time to adapt and build their own squad. We should all be patient and give anyone the time to progress. I’m in two minds as to whether Arsene should stay at the club in the background as sometimes it can be a distraction, as the new manager is always compared to the outgoing manager and doesn’t help if he’s still around (e.g Ferguson). Ideally if he does stay, i’d like  him to become director of football and oversee the youth academy as his true talent lies in developing young players and making them ready for the first team.

Thank you for reading!

Predictions

It’s that time of year again! I’ve decided to wait for the window to shut before making any predictions this year though.

Arsenal: Top 2 finish – We have actually gone and done it. The shameful side of the fanbase have been baying for Arsene’s blood through the whole window and he has given everyone what they want and what every pundit has said over the past ten years. A CB and ST, as we’re “a CB and ST away from challenging for the league” even though we have progressively been getting better year on year for the last 3 years! Having bought very shrewdly in Mustafi a regular in the German National team, which is no easy feat. And Lucas Perez who has been dubbed as the Spanish Vardy, who should share the burden of the goals with Giroud who’s been so underrated and under appreciated. Also not forgetting Rob Holding who has been pound-for-pound the best signing we’ve made, considering he’s made more clearances, won more aerial duals and made more tackles than the boss man Koscielny! Man City wasted almost £50 million on Stones and we paid £2.5 million on him. Granit Xhaka is a beauty to watch, we have finally replaced Viera in my eyes, the passing, leadership and ‘industrial’ side of the game all rolled into one, he’s also not shy of sticking the boot in, a proper enforcer in the ranks once again. All in all it looks to be an amazing season if you’re an Arsenal fan as the fanbase has to unite under the Arsenal banner as Arsene has done exactly what all his critics have been screaming for, if we can crack on and make a proper atmosphere in the Emirates again, we can win something this year. Expect some amazing European nights and a long go at the FA Cup again this year, depth in the squad is sublime.

Bournemouth:Relegation Scrap – Having made the biggest ‘coup’ of the transfer window by getting the best English Midfielder on loan (Jack Wilshere), they should have an exciting season when he starts to link up with his best mate Afobe, yet I don’t think it’ll be enough to get them into mid table spots, they’ll enjoy their scalps of some of the bigger teams along the way but with the league being so unpredictable with this disgusting amount of money being injected into it, I think things will start to even out as the rich clubs get richer (e.g Man United) and we go back to how it was with people buying the league. If they can get Wilson firing on all cylinders after he had all of last season out then they could surprise a few but the forecast still looks dim.

Burnley: Relegation Scrap – Sean Dyche has done an incredible job with Burnley considering they couldn’t compete financially with the big boys, they’re now enjoying the fruits of their labour after gaining promotion back to the Premier League and get that windfall of funds. They’ll still be near the bottom come the end of the year, yet I expect some good home results this season.

Chelsea: 5th – Chelsea have made a good acquisition with Conte and he seems to be coming up with the goods so far. Yet they let themselves down on the last day of the window by buying David Luiz again. Kante will be tested immensely having that clown behind him, I for one am licking my lips in anticipation for Arsenal’s trip to Stamford bridge if he is playing as I feel Özil, Sanchez, Ox and Perez\Giroud will tear him a new arsehole. (This article was drafted before our prefect 3-0 display at the Emirates!) Also I feel it’s only a matter of time before Costa is sent off for being a cunt, interpret that in whatever way you want, be it spitting, eye gouging, slapping, tripping, shirt pulling, dissent, he will be getting sent off more often and hopefully it will curb that disgusting side of his ‘game’ if you can call it that. Hazard seems to be back to his best after going on holiday for the whole of last season and will drag the team to Europa League places as they have no European football to hinder them, yet I think the two Manchester clubs and Arsenal are a still a step above them in many respects.

Crystal Palace: 7th\8th – They have addressed their main issue of not having a good enough striker for this league, say what you will of Benteke but when he gets going he’s a top goalscorer. Pardew has been around long enough and I think he’ll make a significant improvement this season and will scrape through and get a Europa league qualifying round spot, either in the league or through a cup. It’ll be good to have another London rival in the top half of the table.

Everton: 7th\8th – I like how Everton is set up at the moment, they have the players, the resources, a good home ground and a cracking manager, I hope this is the season they prove me wrong and go for top 4, yet I still don’t see it happening. They’re a work in progress and could grow to be a major force in the next few years, however they aren’t quite there yet. This season is a building block and I don’t expect many to take points away from Goodison Park this year, also another team I think could go far in the Cups.

Hull City: Mid Table obscurity – They’ve played a blinder the first few games of the season and got robbed of a point when Man United rolled into town, if they could keep it up they’d see themselves in the top half of the table, yet it won’t happen. Mike Phelan deserved Manager of the Month in my opinion, for motivating that small squad of lads and coming up with those results in the face of almost not having a fully fit 11 to put out on the field. I also fully expect to meet Hull in the FA Cup for our customary annual fixture!

Leicester City: 9th – They did it, hats off and all that jazz, but another year another season and they will have to contend with a clogged up calendar with European football without their Midfield enforcer Kante to make the difference, no offence but Drinkwater is nowhere near the player he was. Mendy looked good against Arsenal and could come in handy but they will come up against some stiff opposition and take into account they won’t be able to keep that tight knit group together like last season as the tinkerman will have to tinker to keep things fresh and you’ll start to see a different team. That’s why when everyone lost their heads when they won and said it was the greatest achievement, I still believe that Nottingham Forrest and Brian Clough edged it. It all depends what Leicester do in Europe I guess!

Liverpool: 3rd – Well they’ve been tearing the league up from the start and Klopp is really kicking on with instilling his style of play in the team. They’re sublime to watch and have the firepower to play any team in the league out of the park, we lost first game of the season to them in an all action encounter. They also beat Chelsea, the game to watch for will be Man City and Pep. Whilst I expect Arsenal and City to go Top 2, Liverpool will be right behind you can believe that. They don’t have European football to hold them back either. I think they’ll get 3rd and maybe even a cup!

Man City: Top 2 – Well it’s happened, Pep is here and has hit the ground running. He has really pulled the best out of De Bruyne and is really one of the most exciting midfielders to watch in the league. Aguero is STILL the best striker in the league and will crack 25 goals this year. He could fire them all the way to winning the league depending on how Arsenal get on. It will be tight at the top and may even go down to the last game of the season. The only place I see negativity is the defence and Claudio Bravo. He’s a good keeper and all but there have been some questionable decisions made, it could impact how they play. At the moment it doesn’t matter as they seem to be able to outscore everyone anyway!

Man United: 4th – They’ve attempted to buy the league this season in a knee-jerk reaction to Pep going to City, they’ve got that foul human Jose in and spent ridiculous amounts of money on players for the coming season. From what i’ve seen recently, going on a 3 game losing streak I don’t expect great things this season from them. Rooney is finished, the only plus is seeing Zlatan in the League, everyone’s favourite Swede. Jose will secure a Champions League spot, you can almost guarantee it, yet they seem to struggle in the Europa League almost as if they’ve got a superiority complex where the players think they’re too good for the competition. Go out and prove us wrong by winning it! They aren’t the finished article like their Blue rivals, scousers or the mighty Arsenal so 4th is a realistic finish.

Middlesbrough: Relegation – It’s a shame to say it as I was quite happy to see an old ‘original’ premier League team return (Much like Sheffield Wednesday or Nottingham Forrest) but they look out of their depth and will be scrapping with the likes of Burnley to stay up. I don’t think Karanka can be blamed, he’s made good signings but it won’t come together in time. They’ll grab some well earned points come February but I think it will be too late.

Southampton: Mid Table obscurity – I like Claude Puel and I think Southampton were unlucky not to get a point out of the Arsenal game if i’m honest. I expect them to do okay but with Europa League matches piling up and the managers inexperience in the league will lead to a mid table finish and maybe round of 16 in Europa. A good side that are 2 or 3 players away from challenging for 4th.

Stoke: Staying Up – There is no doubt that Stoke will stay up. They might finish 17th but they will stay up. I was really expecting them to smash teams apart this season but they’ve fallen flat on their face. I truly do love watching Bojan play. They have a good manager and the squad to compete but getting off to this start can’t help in the dressing room and the confidence isn’t there. The league is wide open from 7th downwards and some teams are still trying to find their place.

Sunderland: Relegation Scrap – Will they won’t they. Will they get going under Moyes, he’s got the experience but I don’t think he has the right team behind him. Pickford looks to be an exciting young prospect and has almost cemented his place in the starting 11. There will be some tough games ahead and if they haven’t got many points on the board by mid November then i’d start to get a bit worried for another ‘big’ team that can’t go down, much like their Tyneside rivals last year.

Swansea: Staying Up – Another club that look alright but won’t set the world alight this year. They’ll get some goals out of Fernando Llorente as he is a classy finisher but I don’t think they have enough to get mid table and aren’t bad enough to be fighting for their lives at the bottom. Expect draws, and lots of them.

Spurs: 6th – Now I would be a bit biased but let me have a look at this realistically just for arguments sake. For a start they aren’t playing at home this season which is unsettling, even if they’re sharing Wembley for European games which is an honour for them. I expect them not to do too badly in their group, they have a good manager and I expect him to push them like last year and they will probably make last 16/round of 32 and finish just outside of top 4 as the big boys return to the fray after being absent last year. I can tell you, this stadium malarkey is no walk in the park.

Watford: Mid Table obscurity – They’ve had an okay start to the season and Mazzarri isn’t a bad manager, they look solid and can get points on the board. They’ll be overpowered by the next level of opponents like Everton/Crystal Palace but they’ll pick off the weaker teams in the league. They have a nice style of play this year and Deeney is so underrated. However, like I say Mid table at best.

West Brom: Relegation Scrap – Now, I have respect for Tony Pulis and think he’s an exceptional manager with the resources he’s had at this club and Stoke, but I don’t think West Brom scare anyone. They can grind out the draws where needed, but that isn’t enough in this open league anymore, he has the experience to keep them up but you do wonder if these are one of the ‘big’ teams that are ripe for relegation. The league is changing.

West Ham: Mid to Bottom Table (16th) – Another team in transition, attempting a stadium move. They have the players, Payet in particular is World Class and Antonio is having a blinder at the moment, Slaven Bilic turned out to be a hit last year but this year throws up different situations and a new home. They seem to be stuttering but I feel they have just enough to beat off opposition.

Premier League Prediction

With the new season starting this weekend I have taken some time to do a little prediction without knowing the results. I took the fixture list and put down for every game and what the result would be and the results were surprising.

 

 

The league on the 28th of December looks a little something like this:

1.  Arsenal
2. Chelsea
3. Manchester United
4. Manchester City
5. Everton
6. Liverpool
7. Tottenham
8. Crystal Palace
9. Hull City
10. Stoke City(on the same points)
11. Sunderland (on the same points)
12. QPR (on the same points)
13. Newcastle United
14. West Bromwich Albion
15. Aston Villa (on the same points)
16. West Ham (on the same points)
17. Swansea
18. Leicester City
19. Southampton
20. Burnley

Before you start and say this is biased because i’m an Arsenal fan, we were at the top at Christmas last year so not so unrealistic. I shall also give a few explainations, Manchester United for example will do well as they don’t have European football and seem to be revitalised under LVG so a top three finish isn’t out of their grasp, much like Liverpool last season. The pressure is all on Manchester City as defending champions, Arsenal will be very strong after (finally) strengthening their squad and will be a force to be reckoned with.

Everton only just fell short of Manchester City in my prediciton table by 2 points as they have improved immensely. Liverpool will suffer due to having European football again and I feel their team will not work quite as well as they expected. The biggest surprise to myself being Crystal Palace in 8th, however this is understandable due to Tony Pulis turning the team around and grabbing the points where he can. Hull City have improved under Steve Bruce as well and I expect them to be at least mid-table by Christmas, yet it is to be seen how his team will cope with Europa league, so Hull City is the only question mark in my table that I will say now I will get wrong, my predicitons are made down to Premier league games only.

 

 

All of the teams next to each other with (on the same points) could be in any of the spaces they share with the others so for example, if at Christmas QPR are in 10th rather than 12th i’m still technically right! The only one I think could change depending on the second half of the season would be Leicester City as I think the crunch games near the end of the season could keep them up. Any other thoughts about this let me know! Feedback is welcome, no hate though please as it was done fixture by fixture so as not to be biased.

Thanks for reading!

No Longer A Beautiful Game

Here I go again, another football post. My last one got me thinking about things. I want to ask a question to people. Should we regulate football clubs and what they spend?

1. Wages – It has been revealed today that Wayne Rooney has signed a new deal at Manchester United, earning himself £300,000 a week, or £1.2M a month. I mean really? I understand world class players deserve to be paid a good wage because football careers are short and all that but still is he really worth that much? He’s not even world class anymore, in my opinion he never was. He was just England’s best striker, but in case you hadn’t noticed England aren’t amazing at international level. I think personally if you set a rate for wages, you’d get more quality footballers out there and bring the game alive again. Instead nowadays you just get athletes who can kick a ball and who are just after money and don’t care about the game. If you capped salaries, only people that were passionate about playing football as a career would play and you’d get real passion back on the pitch. There should be a wage structure in place for the big clubs much like in other companies and organisations. Everyone starts at the same wage, but you get bonuses for goals scored, clean sheets, wins & cups and like in a some jobs you get a raise every year of service for your club, encouraging players to stay at one club rather than going all over the place. Look at people like Steven Gerrard, Tony Adams, etc… one club men, something you don’t get anymore because people are lured away by big salaries. I don’t like that football as a game is run like a business now and it’s ALL about money.

 

2. Transfers – Transfer valuations are ridiculous. How do you value a player? I think they should reset valuations and the best players in the world should be valued at around £25 million. No player is worth more than that to a club. I mean I remember back when I was young, there was a player called Christian Vieri and he was sold for £28 million at the time and I literally couldn’t fathom the amount of money that is, but now that’s not really considered very much money, but just think about that number for a second. £28 million, in fact think of the number £1 million. A million pounds is a lot of money to normal people and after all football is ‘the working man’s game’. I just think that the big clubs ruin it for everyone treating it as a money game, yes Arsenal are included this also, I will happily put my hand up and admit that about my own club, but we aren’t that bad in comparison to some others. I will use the Gareth Bale sale as an example as well of course, do you really think that he is worth £86 million, that’s about the equivalent of 3 Juan Mata’s right? Is he three times the player of Mata, no. It could do with a serious overhaul.

 

3. Contracts – Contracts mean nothing anymore, they should just do away with a “4 year contract” and do a yearly contract with every player so there’s no confusion. What’s the point in having a contract when nowadays most players are bought before it even ends, there’s no loyalty anymore between players and clubs. You should trust the player and that he wants to stay at the club, so when it comes around to the end of the contract, he can decide to stay and sign an extension of a year again or he can move onto another club for a fee.

 

4. Nationality – I know they’ve tried to clamp down on it but it’s not an English game like it once was, I don’t know what percentage of the team has to be English but I don’t think it’s enough. Yes yet again I know Arsenal are bad for this and I know it makes the Premier League one of the best in the world for it’s diversity, but the reason we aren’t great on an international level might have something to do with the big clubs not having enough room for English talent. I’ll use Arsenal as an example as I know the team well, of the starting 11 how many are English (or potential starting 11)? Gibbs, Wilshere, Oxlade- Chamberlain and Walcott. So that’s 4 of 11. That’s not even half, this is where we are going wrong, if all the teams were made to have more English players at their clubs it would be so good for young English talent.

 

 

5. Tackling – I know this is off topic but I need to put it out there as this is a football post, but I miss a good strong tackle nowadays. If it’s one thing that needs to change about the current game is what is deemed as a good challenge. I’ll use that Wes Brown challenge on Charlie Adam a couple months back as a PERFECT example. Wes Brown committed to a strong sliding challenge and won the ball, which when I was growing up you were taught to do, as long as you got the ball it didn’t really matter too much about connecting with the other player, it’s a physical sport at the end of the day. However, he slightly clipped Charlie Adam in doing so, who didn’t even go to ground I might add, and Wes was sent off for the intent of the challenge, the intent of winning the ball?! It’s just too crazy all these rules that the FA come up with and it’s spoiling the game that I know and love, red cards should be left to an accumulation of yellow cards, violent conduct and straight red offenses like tackling from behind.

 

6. Diving – This needs to be stamped out in every sense. To start they need to change the term from “winning a free kick/penalty” to “being awarded a free kick/penalty” after all it is down to the referee to decide not the players to go out looking for them. If you are fouled whilst trying to play the ball then a foul is awarded, it’s shameful players look for any contact and go down just to get a free kick or penalty. We should be encouraging them to stay on their feet and carry on, then bring the play back and penalise the offender, for my example I shall use an Arsenal vs Liverpool game from my childhood, where Robbie Fowler was through on goal, tried to round David Seaman, Seaman tried to pull out of the way and Fowler lost his footing as he was clipped, instead of making a big deal of it, Fowler went to the referee and said it wasn’t a foul and play was resumed. You wouldn’t even dream of seeing that today, now they are told to win the penalty and go down if caught at all. I think it’s ridiculous.

 

 

Sorry for going so off topic on the last two but i’m passionate about football as a game and hate what has become of this amazing sport these days.

 

My Team And Me

After a long break from blogging i’ve decided to pick up the baton and carry on as it were. After much deliberation as to what I should start on, I thought i’d take a leaf out of my own book and start the way I did before and talk about Arsenal.

Despite what you’ve heard from the media, things within Arsenal couldn’t be much better right now. ‘How?’ I hear you say coming off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich? Well for a start there are more positives than negatives to be drawn from the game. For a start, I believe if Szczesny wasn’t sent off the whole complexion of the game would of been different, considering our defensive record at home is impeccable, it would of freed up time and space for our offensive players to get to work like they did in the first 15 minutes. Let’s say for example that we went on to win that game 2-0, keeping a clean sheet and scoring a couple of chances, people would be writing Bayern Munich off. Considering what happened last year when we famously went to the Allianz Arena and won 2-0, albeit getting knocked out on aggregate, it was a statement of intent being the first English team to do so. So I wouldn’t be so quick to write off our chances this year, with Fabianski taking Szczesny’s place, who incidentally is going through an amazing patch right now (watch the Arsenal v Liverpool FA Cup match), arguably the best defensive partnership in the Premier League Mertesacker & Koscielny, the anchors of midfield Flamini & Arteta, a plethora of attacking talent to choose from in midfield and a promising young talent in Sanogo. If we get off to the same start we did the other night in Munich then expect a very hard fought and surprising result.

Yes, admittedly we lost 2-0 and it will be hard to come back from that, especially if Bayern score first in the second leg. However, I still think that the defeat will kick the team up the arse and evoke a strong response from them. If Oxlade-Chamberlain starts expect him to be a key player in the match. I also expect Podolski to have a good game if he’s involved. But most of all, in the last game I was impressed with Sanogo. I will stand by Wenger’s decision to not buy a striker in the transfer window if Sanogo develops properly and is nourished by Wenger, much like another young Frenchman that came to the club! Also it’s worth remembering that Henry himself didn’t score for 8 games when he first started at Arsenal. Now I shouldn’t compare the two I know, but I just want people to get perspective in regards to the situation and not write the young man off too early. If it’s one thing Wenger knows about it’s teaching and guiding young players, all you need to do is look at Aaron Ramsey, someone who even myself over the years have bad mouthed. He’s easily one of the best midfielders in the league and he’s done that by proving all the haters wrong, Wilshere, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott and Szczesny all joined at young ages, a couple through the academy others joining from other clubs at around 16/17/18/19, now look at them!

If you look back over our baron trophyless seasons you begin to understand why we haven’t won things and understand what’s going on in the background. I knew nothing at the time only being a young teenager and not looking into how the club was run, me being 23 now and paying attention to most things behind the scenes. The best place to start would be the Champions League Final 2006, not the FA Cup in 2005 as most people say was the start of our ‘downwards spiral’. People forget that the season after our last cup we won, we reached the Champions League Final beating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the process (another first for an English team I believe). Yet again in circumstances that remind me of the other night, Jens Lehmann became the first goalkeeper to be sent off in a Final, and we chased a Barcelona team for the rest of the game, had that red card never been issued I believe we’d of outplayed and beaten Barcelona, much like Bayern Munich the other night, but we didn’t and that was the fateful night that started the ‘disbelief’ of Arsenal fans and pundits alike. Bearing in mind though we still went and scored from that glorious Sol Campbell header, if we could score one against Barcelona with 10 men, imagine what we could do with 11. The following season we saw an exodus of core parts of our squad, they were part of the invincibles, the likes of Henry, Cole, Campbell & Lauren. This triggered a knock on effect and we lost our top players each season from then on as we didn’t have a player of Henry’s calibre to bring in big signings.

Yet, this was a mastermind move from Wenger and the board of directors as the fees we received from all of these transfers were paying off the stadium we’d just moved into and creating more revenue, which in doing so freed up funds which are currently available this season. I never understood this obviously as I wasn’t paying attention, and now feel harsh of my criticisms of Wenger when I was a teen. Although I can resolutely say I have NEVER jumped on the ‘Wenger out’ wagon, he makes the club what it is and were he to go then expect to see what is currently happening at Manchester Untied or maybe even worse, considering it’s publicly known that several players have come out and said that if Wenger left they wouldn’t know if they’d stay, causing yet more unstability within the team and any new manager would have an impossible job. Apart from of course, the return of Thierry Henry who recently omitted his desire to return to Arsenal as a manager one day, which would be the only suitable candidate in my eyes. Although, Thierry needs to go and get some management experience under his belt first, but the raw talent and understanding of the game he possesses and his understanding of the club and how it works and our style of play would mean he would slip right in. I only write this as I can tell like many others that Wenger will leave the club in the next 3/4 years. Anyway back to the point, now we have the funds available, we are suddenly a big choice for big names, we proved this with the signing of Ozil. Think about it, we have an amazing squad available, players other players want to play alongside, we play Champions League football EVERY season, we are title contenders, we have a healthy history and a genius manager. One thing I will say, this summer watch for another German to come in, whether it be Draxler, Khedira, Emre Can or Bittencourt, it’s a pattern i’ve picked up on like the flood of french players that came in from the late 90’s/early 00’s who all wanted to play with Vieira, like Petit, Henry, Pires, Wiltord, Cygan, Clichy & Flamini. We already have Mertesacker, Ozil & Podolski, with the emergence of Gnabry, Eisfield & Zelalem from the youth set up. I think it would be fair to say we can expect one or two more German’s to join this year.

So to conclude, the reason I think we could go on and win the league if not any other competition is because we have rebuilt our core and with the funds available are on the verge of adding some real world class players to our already extensive squad, whilst still keeping a good balance! Also Ramsey is yet to come back from injury and could be the deciding factor in the latter stages of the season, only time will tell. Thanks for reading!