Hello good people, trust you’re staying safe and healthy.
I tell you what, Paris St-Germain might have signed Lionel Messi in a one-team championship, but as you can see the Premier League is just growing from strength to strength regarding the quality of squads.
Maaaaaadness… the amount of money being spent and the obvious ambition of the top boys. Not least Manchester United!
Following Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, who would have imagined CR7 back at Old Trafford?
As he said goodbye to his Juventus teammates and boarded a private jet in Turin, the world thought he was on his way to Manchester City. What a shocker.
I am, however, pleased to see him back for two reasons.
Firstly, he’s gonna add a spark to the league and secondly, his arrival at United has to make them favourites given the other signings. That takes the heat off Chelsea (and City/Liverpool). Can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer forge the new-look attacking line-up into proper title contenders?
They were horrible against Wolves, could have lost 3-0 on another day, disjointed, clueless…Varane was all over the place, Sancho – oh dear – and as for the famed Bruno Fernandes completely vacant.
Will Ronaldo do well? Of course he’s gonna get goals and he’s super fit (aged 36) but the Premier League is a different animal to Serie A, and while he’ll be a positive addition, he ain’t what he was five or 10 years ago.
I do feel however that he’ll lift the side, players will react positively having him on the pitch.
Was good to see the end of the Harry Kane saga…poor fella, he had to pretend he’d made a decision to stay and pledged his allegiance to Tottenham.
It’s almost amusing that they sit top of the league after three games, they look so average, somehow squeezing another result on Sunday against Watford. Enjoy it while it lasts, lads!
City will probably make Erling Haaland a priority signing next time around.
It was interesting to learn about the ridiculous transfer deal that was put on the table for the youngster as Chelsea tried to prise him away from Dortmund. And in retrospect, it’s why the Blues looked elsewhere.
Included in the £150m plus was a payment of £34m to his agent (Mino Raiola) and £20m to his dad! That’s just a joke, over £50m away from the actual fee and wages.
It’s a similar type of greed as West Ham slapping a £100m tag on Declan Rice. When will this bullsh!t end? When will they reach the ceiling?
Anyway, this past weekend was all about the cracking fixture at Anfield and it didn’t disappoint.
I was surprised to see such a fiercely-contested game. It felt likely that both coaches would adopt a more defensive posture, but they went toe-to-toe in a high-quality game.
All these muppets who are bantering me about Chelsea parking a bus? Did they even watch the game? It was a Thomas Tuchel masterclass. Perfectly executed defensive/attacking balance and could quite easily have been two or three up before that thief sent Reece James off.
How to ruin a top-level game in one dishonest flash of a red card. Again, those of you who haven’t looked at the rules, please stop arguing with me. Firstly, it was a definite penalty… but a red card should only be given for a deliberate handball. Which points to a second rule, “if a ball touches a player’s arm after it has come off any other body part, it is not an offence”. So there it is, cheated out of three points.
As Michael Owen said after the game, “if they’d played another hour, it didn’t look like Liverpool would ever score”.
Personally, the repetitive plan of Trent Alexander-Arnold knocking a long ball into Mo Salah and Sadio Mane hoping for a bit of magic was weak and ineffective… Chelsea ain’t Norwich! Mane looked like a lost child…
So yeah, the first few games of the season have left me in a great space. That feeling I had when Chelsea were at their best under Jose Mourinho, like we just ain’t gonna lose… got the same with Tuchel!
Can’t believe it’s an international break already, after just three games. Mind you, it will be fantastic for Arsenal. Means they’ll go a whole two weeks without losing!
Stay safe people, get vaxed, keep your distance, mask-up and wash dem handies. Chat next week.