Premier League

While we rang the Manchester United death knell and witnessed as the club bore the skeletons of their proverbial dead (Wayne Rooney taking a spot on the bench for this match), the Red Devils conspired to play out 20 minutes of sensational football — the likes of which haven’t been seen at Old Trafford since the Alex Ferguson days.

Paul Pogba was imperial. Marcus Rashford continued his blistering start to the season and Wayne Rooney’s demotion was entirely vindicated. The champions were simply outclassed.

Jose Mourinho's fractious relationship with the media came to a head on Wednesday when he labeled those who attacked himself and Manchester United after a three-game losing streak as “football Einsteins”.

Mourinho's barb was certainly tongue in cheek, using the platform of United’s 3-1 victory over Northampton Town to fire back at those who’ve already begun to question his ability to handle the Old Trafford hot seat: 

The decline of Wayne Rooney as a footballing force isn’t confined to this season; his form has been in freefall for at least three years now. While he may be England’s all-time leading scorer, and just three shy of holding the same record for Manchester United, Wayne Rooney is a shadow of the manchild who arrived at Old Trafford back in 2004. 

Potential is defined as the latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness. 

Kevin De Bruyne is the cover boy of Potential Illustrated, the long-running theoretical magazine that is littered with pages of soccer players that just didn’t make it. 

There are millions of both aimless and worthwhile reasons for why some players just never figure it out. Talent, oddly enough, usually goes hand in hand with prospective failure. 

A glance at the current Premier League table reveals an improvement of sorts for Chelsea. Their catastrophic title defense last season resulted in them finishing 10th, while their defense, so renowned for their frugality, shipped 53 goals — more than 15th-place Crystal Palace.

This season, Antonio Conte has been charged with returning Chelsea to their domineering displays of old. The problem for Conte is that Chelsea are nowhere near their peak personnel wise. John Terry, while still a force, will turn 36 in December. 

More so than the players themselves, this summer’s headlines seemed dominated by football’s “super agents” — the brokers of the multi-million dollar deals that have come to typify the transfer market. Rather than moving in the background of such transactions, these men have flocked to the fore. Their opinions, demands and claims have been quickly picked up by media outlets, giving them a false aura of footballing expertise. 

Apparently, after twelve seasons with the Red Devils, the bell has finally rung for Wayne Rooney.

Every once in a while, we can still catch glimpses of the old Rooney, making a difference in critical moments of a close game for United. And yet, despite those few moments of genius, Rooney is plain and simply playing badly. 

His start of the Premier League season was a flash of hope for United supporters as he scored in the opening game against Bournemouth and dished assists on the two subsequent outings. 

Leicester City players are not your typical footballers. Their game is different, and in many respects, very simplistic. Yet, it’s just that simplistic style that may have given them an edge over other teams – and qualified them for the Champions League.