Manchester United will not win the Premier League title this season. The Red Devils have grown to be the antithesis of their former "Pride of England" moniker under Jose Mourinho. Not only has the Portuguese "Chosen One" flooded Old Trafford with boredom, the 2017-18 season was also an indicator of false glory despite a second place finish behind Manchester City.
Thibaut Courtois hard-balled Chelsea on Monday with a preseason training absence. The 26-year-old Belgian goalkeeper has long been speculated to leave Chelsea for Real Madrid, and this stern message to new boss Maurizio Sarri might be the final trick.
Courtois just entered the final 12 months of his Chelsea contract, and with this no-show antic, his transfer might be imminent — to which club though?
Twitter didn’t take long to turn the whole ordeal into a circus of memes.
Managers are being scrutinised more than ever, and with good reason. The fans and owners expect results from their teams, no matter who their players are. Whether it’s Huddersfield Town or Manchester City, every manager knows that their owners can pull the plug at any time.
How fast is Mohamed Salah? The breakthrough player of the 2017-18 European club season combined his speed and dribbling skills with a newfound confidence in front of goal to devastating effect last year, scoring 44 goals and adding 14 assists in 52 matches. Deployed on the right-hand side of Liverpool’s feared front three, Salah and teammate Sadio Mane are two of the quickest footballers on the planet.
Paul Pogba is one of the most famous footballers on the planet. He plays at perhaps the biggest club in the world and just won the World Cup with France. But Paul Pogba’s religion might be his most defining characteristic.
Pogba stands out on a pitch. Whether it’s unique hairstyles, uncommon flair on the ball or endless dabbing, the 6-3 midfielder is one of the most recognizable players in the world. He set the all-time transfer fee record in 2016 when he joined Manchester United, where he plays in front of tens of thousands in person and millions worldwide.
The FA Community Shield doesn’t count for much. Last season, Arsenal won it thanks to contributions from Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud. Not one of those players was even at the club come February. We can, however, surmise from the 2018 edition that Manchester City is really good.
I think they earned the right to that plaudit last season.
Following relegation from the Premier League last season, West Brom kicked off life in the Championship yesterday with a 2-1 home defeat to Bolton. But it wasn’t an entirely joyless exercise inside the Hawthorns as the club unveiled it’s new mascot: a boiler. Boiler Man. Maybe Boiler Boy. We don't know the age of the boiler (yet).
There’s the boiler boy now, walking down the touchline looking awfully confused.
Let’s be honest here. Last year’s major European league title races were, for the most part, downright boring. The Golden Boot races? Well, those were a little more entertaining. While most of the European league races are likely to once again go to obvious winners, the Golden Boot odds in each league suggest those races will be the ones to watch in the upcoming season.
Many in the U.S. would suggest 22-year-old American midfielder Lynden Gooch should leave Sunderland, a club for which he’s appeared in the Premier League, Championship and, as of Saturday, League One, all in a three-year span. In terms of the California native’s development, they might be right. But the Lynden Gooch goal vs Charlton Athletic on Saturday showed why the Black Cats would prefer to keep him, even if the play started out poorly for Gooch.
The World Cup is still fresh on our minds but the European club season is already here. So of course it’s time for some 2018-19 Premier League predictions.