The beginning of the Premier League season is all the time lengthy awaited, but it comes round so early in the summertime that one can’t assist ending up feeling a bit however prefer it’s only a continuation of the preseason.
One week you’re taking part in Inter Milan in a pleasant at house, the subsequent you’re taking part in Man Metropolis and it truly counts… the solar continues to be shining and the switch window continues to be open, however the factors rely the identical because the nail biters come Could.
This was the workforce’s downfall final yr – a sluggish begin (regardless of some good performances) meant that Mauricio Pochettino’s workforce had been taking part in catch-up all yr. They actually solely received into gear in week 7, when Cole Palmer emerged as a starter, and an enormous precedence this season is ensuring we don’t find yourself in the identical state of affairs.
The fixtures fall fairly kindly for the workforce on that entrance. We’re already a few factors higher off, and we’ve received video games towards West Ham, Brighton and Nottingham Forest up subsequent. There are not any straightforward recreation within the Premier League, or definitely none which you could rely on being straightforward earlier than they begin, however that’s as beneficial as runs go.
We had higher profit from it although – after that it will get actually nasty by October and November. The following run sees us face Liverpool, Newcastle, Man U, Arsenal and Aston Villa all by the first of December – adopted by Chelsea v Spurs on the seventh to cap all of it off.
That may be a horrible run, and one which might see an actual spiral of confidence if factor don’t exit manner. It’s massively vital that the workforce squeeze each final level out of this softer run, in any other case we might discover ourselves in a fairly determined state of affairs by mid-December.
Enzo Maresca will hope that each passing week helps the squad adapt to his system increasingly, and if we see enchancment over the subsequent month there’s no purpose we are able to’t win factors off these greater groups. However the reverse can also be true – if we wrestle within the subsequent month, it’s laborious to see us moving into gear towards among the stronger sides within the league.
Not like Pochettino’s system, which was very efficient on the counter towards groups who got here out and attacked, whereas Maresca’s seeks extra management of the ball. Will probably be very attention-grabbing to see the way it performs in these two distinct phases of fixtures.
