Ahead of every weekend this season, I will answer questions from Sportsnet.ca readers on a variety of topics on the Premier League. If you’d like to ask me a question, hit me up on Twitter at @jamessharman, and be sure to use the hashtag #SNAskSharman.
Let’s dive into this week’s mailbag…
From @MartinOmes: Bournemouth has had themselves a great start. With an upcoming schedule that is favourable, do you see them gaining confidence for a potential Europa League finish?
Sharman: A draw against Everton and a loss to Chelsea were predictably challenging, but wins over Cardiff City, West Ham United and Leicester City were hardly matches that would have kept Eddie Howe up at night. Nor will the upcoming matches against Burnley, Crystal Palace, Watford (with respect), Southampton and Fulham. The trouble with soft starts is that soon enough the tables turn and your team begins meeting the big boys, and that is certainly the case with the Cherries.
The very fact I am using the term “soft schedule” with Bournemouth probably suggests that I rate this team. I think you are right, confidence is being built, and for a team that plays the way Bournemouth does, confidence is everything. I am not sure any team was talked about less than Bournemouth before the season, yet somehow they have become part of the furniture, which considering this is only their fourth season in the Premier League, and considering just how small the club is, it is really quite the feat.
More than that, it is the attacking style that Eddie Howe preaches that makes Bournemouth so likeable. Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser are two of my favourite players, and David Brooks appears to be evidence that Howe has a savvy eye in the transfer window. Europa League? That might be a stretch, but if Burnley managed it, why not?
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From @ChrisInTheSix: When does Tottenham finally cave and sell Harry Kane?
Sharman: If they ever end up selling Kane, surely they will do it when they’re in a position of strength to get maximum value. Kane’s start to the season is worrying, and a little baffling. It has been noted that his production has declined since an ankle injury (his third) in March, and he has not been the same since that injury, despite winning the Golden Boot at the World Cup. If the injury is to blame, then we need to know more about it. Is this is a chronic issue, the result of several injuries on the same ankle?
Perhaps there is another explanation? At his best Kane has operated as a loan striker, but this season he has been paired with Lucas Moura. Moura has been excellent, Kane less so.
Kane seems to be one of those rare superstars who is extremely loyal to his club. He has been at Tottenham since he was 11, and recently signed an extension. Now, generous as it is, he would get a lot more money at Manchester City or Real Madrid, so perhaps if Spurs continue its frugality in the transfer window, and has a few more trophy-less seasons, he could be swayed into leaving. However, with a brand new stadium, Spurs need star power to fill the seats and buy season tickets and corporate boxes. This is not like Gareth Bale, or even Paul Gascoigne. I don’t see Kane leaving any time soon.
From @jasonhindle: How is James Milner at 33 still so effective for Liverpool?
Sharman: The more I watch Milner, the more I think of him as a poor man’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Or maybe Ronaldo is a poor man’s Milner? You see, we celebrate Ronaldo’s ridiculous conditioning, yet we watch Milner and forget that he is close to the same age. The man is an absolute machine, and one of the most interesting footballers in the world, despite his label as “boring.”
He genuinely seems like a good bloke, and a manager’s dream. This is a player who starred as a 16-year old at Leeds, made his mark at Newcastle United and Aston Villa, and then possibly made the wrong move to Manchester City at the wrong time, falling into the super sub role. So he shows up at Liverpool, and becomes the starting left back. He never complains, and then eventually reclaims a spot in the middle of the park, and at almost 33 he was Liverpool’s best player for some huge games last season, and again this season.
Simply put, Milner listens to his coach, and executes. Essentially his game is a simple game, but no one works harder, is as intense on the pitch, and not many can stick a ball in as well from a corner or a wide area. Who would have thought that Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum would be keeping Jordan Henderson and Fabinho out of the Liverpool side?
From @oileral: Is Newcastle United ever going to find a new owner willing to spend money in order to be successful?
Sharman: It doesn’t appear that Mike Ashley enjoys owning a football club, he certainly doesn’t have much ambition in building Newcastle United into the club that it really should be, and he surely doesn’t think that he can keep hold of Rafa Benitez for much longer.
At some point Newcastle will be bought, and it might be sooner than later, as a Premier League club has much more value than a lower division club, and as it looks right now, there is a very good chance the Magpies will be relegated. Anti-Ashley protests have stepped up this season, and there are several reports suggesting Ashley has dropped his price considerably after putting the club up for sale over a year ago.
Here is the problem: Newcastle is located in the Northeast, and that is far less alluring to any ambitious potential owner. Hence, Ashley’s asking price has been met with lukewarm interest. On the bright side, Newcastle is a massive club, with a large and passionate fan base. A club that can be built, and a club that should not be fighting for its top flight life each year. Fans have been patient enough, and it is time their club fell into the right hands.
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