Ahead of every weekend this season, I will give you my three thoughts on what’s going on in the Premier League. These might not always be the biggest stories, but rather my personal observations as the games approach each Saturday.
Here’s what makes me somewhat intrigued ahead of Matchday 28.
Man United far from vintage, but…
Having endured two decades of complete domination by Manchester United, I certainly don’t have sympathy for the Old Trafford outfit, who is going through some tough times at the moment.
Maybe I could find it within myself to give the Red Devils a hug as they continue to teeter on the brink of media-conjured crisis. Barring a Champions League victory, this will be considered a relatively disappointing year for United, especially given how their cross-town rivals have bossed the Premier League.
But if you overlook that, this has been a decent campaign. Fifty-six points to date would have had United sitting second last season at this point. The season before, 56 points would have had it in first place, tied with that legendary Leicester side. Throw in a decent position heading home against Sevilla (0-0) in the Champions League round of 16, and 2017-18 has been acceptable to date. Sure, the style of play might be lacking on a regular basis, but it’s hardly a disgrace.
On Sunday, United take on Chelsea, who are doing to Antonio Conte what they did to Jose Mourinho three years ago, something that should not be lost on anyone. United are far from vintage, they have a long way to go, but let’s be somewhat realistic, there can be only one winner, right?
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West Brom’s woes
I saw a unique table this week showing that out of all the managers hired during this season, West Bromwich Albion’s Alan Pardew is the only one to fair worse in points-per-game than his predecessor, Tony Pulis. This doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who closely follows the Premier League. After all the Baggies are stuck at the bottom of the table, seven points from safety.
Pardew is usually a decent choice to bump a team forward early in his reign, but that has not been the case this season. Perhaps, we had some insight into why last week. As you probably read, four West Brom players were detained by police in Barcelona after they stole a taxi outside a restaurant and drove it back to their hotel at 5:30 am. Footballers make mistakes like anyone else, but of note is who the four players were: Gareth Barry, Jonny Evans, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill. Barry and Evans, in particular, stand out as two pros who would be the last on your list as potential “bad boys.”
Perhaps the bigger question is why is a team mired in such a dreadful slump jetting off to Spain for warm weather training? Optically it looks very bad on the club, and drives another wedge between the club and its fan base. It might have been okay had the team responded in the FA Cup, but instead, after a pitiful opening 45 minutes against Southampton, it ended up crashing out of the Cup with a 2-1 loss. Tough times for the Baggies. I wonder what Mark Hughes is doing these days?
Sepp Blatter is a fool
Sepp Blatter slithered out of his hole this week, tapping out a tweet with his claw-like paws, suggesting that Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup should win (rather than the joint bid between Canada, the United States and Mexico) because during his reign as footy kingpin, it was decided on more than one occasion that a multi-nation bid was not compatible with FIFA’s selective palate.
What he meant to say was that in his experience it is much easier to corrupt one nation than three, therefore in the good old days, a single bid was much preferred. Good to see Sepp is still refusing to acknowledge that the sport just doesn’t care what he thinks anymore. Keep ‘em coming, Sepp. Your thoughts make for great comedy.
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