As Matchday three rolled around, we took our first bite of League Two action this season as me and Harry travelled down to the Jonny-Rocks Stadium to watch Cheltenham Town entertain Carlisle United.
This was a first visit to Cheltenham for me and Harry, and our first experience of the Jonny-Rocks stadium was a positive one as goals from Gavin Reilly and Luke Varney secured a comfortable home win for the Robins.
So… let’s rate our time.
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere was poor for the majority of the game, with a capacity crowd of over 2,600 it was only a handful of maybe 60-70 Cheltenham supporters who let their voices be heard, singing for the entirety of the game. Whilst I admire the passion and effort to generate an atmosphere, the select few who were making noise were let down by the majority of the crowd in attendance.
I am going to give Cheltenham a 1.5/5 for atmosphere.
Cost:
This week non-league teams such as Boreham Wood and Dagenham & Redbridge have come under scrutiny for mouthwatering ticket prices, but Cheltenham have done a great job with ticket prices.
£9 for Under 18 entry is sensibly priced and is a good example to lower league clubs of how to price tickets.
For cost I’m going to give Cheltenham a 4/5.
Entertainment:
When we planned our ground-hopping journey, it’s fair to say Cheltenham vs Carlisle on a Tuesday night was not one of the most glamorous ties we’d anticipated, however this was good entertainment.
Carlisle came out the blocks early and came close to opening the scoring before Cheltenham ultimately did, with the first half becoming an end to end game for the opening half hour.
Entertainment scored well for me but did die down as the game went on, so I’m going to give entertainment a 3/5.
Facilities:
For a League Two stadium, the Jonny Rocks stadium was very impressive (relative to the division). A seated stadium with a clean design as well offering a standing terrace behind the goal which is very close to the pitch.
Cheltenham’s stadium is an impressive ground and is perhaps higher standard than League Two.
It offers that special lower league feeling whilst also teasing fans into a glimpse of the future.
For facilities, I am going to give Cheltenham a 3/5.
Food:
It isn’t often that you have the luxury of a warm bacon and sausage roll in a toasted baguette, and sensibly priced at £3.50. For me Cheltenham get a 4.5/5
This brings the overall score up to 16/25.
Next up for us is a trip to Rodney Parade for Newport County vs West Ham in the league cup.
It was a quieter week this week after a quick start to the season. With Luke taking a break and playing football rather than watching it, this week allowed Harry to possibly gain a lead in the alphabet scorers race. St Mary’s was the destination for his first match and he got his fair share of action. A first half stoppage time goal from Sadio Mane gave Harry his first ‘M’ of the season.
The next new letter wasn’t far away at all with Roberto Firmino adding a second of the day for Liverpool and a second new letter of the day for Harry. A hat-trick of new letter was achieved when Adrian gifted Danny Ings a goal against his former club.
This wouldn’t be the end for Harry’s weekend as he headed down to Southampton once again but this time for their u23 team face up against Derby. The rules of the competition allow some over age players to feature and Derby took advantage of that by playing Chris Martin, Graeme Shinnie and Duane Holmes.
Derby won the match 1-0 with a goal from exciting youngster Jayden Mitchell-Lawson. A good goal for him but not so for Harry as he already had the letter ‘M’ with the above mentioned Mane goal two days prior.
So this means after the third week, Harry gains a lead of two over Luke. Despite the season being just a couple weeks in, the lead has changed twice already so it looks like it should be an exciting season both on and off the pitch.
Next week begins quickly with both of us heading to Cheltenham v Carlisle on the Tuesday. The likes of Luke Varney we’ll have a special eye on.
With my new job as an Opta Analyst, I will spend every other Saturday morning and Monday evening watching the Southampton u18s and u23s. However one of the perks of the job is that I am first reserve for the first team matches. The first home match of the Saints’ Premier League campaign was against Liverpool and when I got the email saying I will be covering it, I was over the moon.
It would be just my second match working for Opta, but I had already made it to the Premier League and I could not wait. I have been to St Mary’s previously with my team Yeovil, but that experience is best left in the past. I genuinely can’t remember whether I have been there once or twice before but I do know we would have lost 100% of the games.
The game didn’t go as I thought but still entertained me none the less. Sadio Mane scored in second half stoppage time to give Jurgen Klopp’s side the lead before Roberto Firmino doubled it with 20 minutes to go. Danny Ings pulled one back after an Adrian howler and should have doubled his tally late on but missed a glaring opportunity to equalise.
Atmosphere:
I will mention this a lot during the season with my Opta games, but I wear noise cancelling headphones during the match so the crowd and other surrounding noises should be cut out. This wasn’t the case for the second match in a row as both Southampton and Liverpool were making noise throughout, especially the latter.
Liverpool fans are renowned for their atmosphere at Anfield, belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone before the match and they were on form on the South Coast as well. They kindly reminded everybody in the stadium that they are Champions of Europe on several occasions, but if you could, you would as well.
I am going to rate the atmosphere 4.5/5
Cost:
Once again, I din’t have to pay for this Premier League clash but if I wanted to go next time it would put me back £40. With the additional £15 train journey it equates to around £55, which sounds a lot, but for a day out watching Premier League football, that isn’t too bad.
There will be cheaper Premier League grounds to go to for sure and just a league below I have been to Bristol City that only cost £20 to get in, so value for money isn’t the greatest at St. Mary’s.
So for cost, I am going to rate it 3/5
Entertainment:
With the Saints coming up against the European Champions, I was expecting a one sided match which would see Liverpool come out comfortable winners, especially given the fact that Southampton shipped three against Burnley a week beforehand.
Well the first half was quite the opposite with Southampton having the better of the play and they could and probably should’ve gone ahead after a Maya Yoshida header from a corner was well saved by Adrian. He almost undid that good work almost immediately, playing the ball against James Ward-Prowse in his own box, only to see it squirt wide.
Ex- Southampton man, Sadio Mane scored in first half stoppage time against the run of play but I don’t think he or any of the Liverpool fans cared one bit. They doubled their lead after 70 minutes after a cool Roberto Firmino finish seemingly put the game away for Liverpool.
However Adrian tried one trick too many and rebounded the ball of former Liverpool striker Danny Ings who halved the deficit. He should have grabbed a point for Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side late on, but he couldn’t convert Yan Valery’s cross from only a few yards out.
For entertainment I wil rate it a 3.5/5
Facilities:
The stadium itself is your typical Premier League ground. It’s capacity of around 32,000 make for a great atmosphere throughout the match. What also helps the atmosphere and is a reason I especially like the ground is the fact that it is a bowl. There aren’t too many that come to mind that aren’t one of the top six sides, but I’m sure once Luke reads this he will come up with a list of 20 in a matter of minutes.
The facilities are also very nice. The ground on the inside and out is just stunning and I will definitely look forward to attending more games there as soon as I can.
For facilities I am going to rate St Mary’s 4/5
Food:
Immediately after I left the stadium I knew exactly what I was going to rate the food. In the press lounge there was a menu on offer but as I hadn’t heard of half the stuff on it I opted for a couple of slices of Naan bread pre-match. It was very nice but nothing spectacular so at that point I was expecting a 3/4 star rating.
However. Once the half time whistle went, the media flocked back into he lounge where we were greeted with a pile of sausage rolls accompanied with a pile of chocolate shortbreads. I was in heaven, and before I could check the half time scores, there were two of each on my plate. I demolished them in no time at all and they were the best sausage rolls and chocolate shortbreads I have ever had.
So I thought it would be rude not to grab a couple more during the break as there were still plenty on offer. I thought that would be the end of my devouring banquet but after the match I went back in to check the scores and there they still were. Another two more consumed before you could say “slow down fatty” and off I went to the train station.
For food I have to rate Southampton, 5/5.
Man of the Match:
Man of the match was a tough one for me as Liverpool weren’t exactly on their top form. Virgil Van Dijk for one wasn’t at his high standard and neither were the two full backs. I am going to give my man of the match to the final player in the back four, Joel Matip.
I think the Cameroonian centre back goes under the radar with all the other stars around him, but he just gets on and does his job well. He arguably played better than his partner Van Dijk which is a massive compliment considering the year the Dutchman has had.
Matip was a rock at the back all game and would’ve earned his clean sheet if it wasn’t for Adrian’s silly mistake.
So what does this mean?
This means Southampton fly to the top of the leaderboard with an overall score of 20, surpassing Spurs for top spot. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Southampton and I literally can’t wait until I am back there again. Also I met Tony Pulis after the match, no relevance here whatsoever but thought I’d share it anyway.
After a jam-packed weekend of action on our first week ground hopping we carried on our venture through the leagues with a match between Yeovil and Eastleigh. Yeovil had been the destination for Harry’s for hundreds of times over the past 13-14 years and most of it was successful until the last 6 seasons.
However a well fought 1-0 victory other the fellow play off contenders came as a great relief. More relief came when we realised Courtney Duffus was the man to slot home, as he became a new man for our alphabet scorers. It was the only goal in the game as we move on to the weekend.
It would be the first time we’d have spent the weekend apart since we started, and we both got our fair share of entertainment. First up, Harry visited Fratton Park for Portsmouth’s visit of Tranmere. If you had read the article about the trip down South then you’d know that Pompey midfielder Ben Close scored a wonder goal with Tom Naylor also notching, in scruffier fashion.
Luke headed off to the capital to watch his favourite team, Tottenham. It was a big day for him as it would be the first time visiting the magnificent ground since its rebuilding and boy did he have reason to celebrate.
After an early shock goal from John McGinn rocked the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, new record signing Tanguy N’dombele equalised for Spurs with only around 15 minutes to go. However, Spurs synonymously don’t go down without a fight and a player who won’t give up until the final whistle is Harry Kane.
Arguably the best striker in the league or even the world, struck twice late on to give Tottenham and Luke that winning feeling once again after their Champions League Final defeat at the end of last season.
This means Luke squeezes one letter ahead of Harry as he picked up three new letters to Harry’s two. It may change next week as Harry’s heads to the South coast once again to watch Southampton face Liverpool and Luke is playing football so will not be able to add to his tally.
Yesterday was one of the most important days of my life, following Spurs for the best part of 14 years I’ve grown up on White Hart Lane, the Paxton, the Shelf Side, the Park Lane these were the surroundings that I grew up on and were some of the many things that made me fall in love with football.
After a two years away from Tottenham, playing at Wembley, I made the trip back to N17 for the first time in two seasons to feast my love struck eyes upon the The new White Hart Lane.
My first experience of my new surroundings was a pleasant yet dramatic one. John McGinn’s early opener for newly promoted Aston Villa had me fearing the worse yet a brilliant second-half equaliser from debutant Tanguy Ndombele and a late brace from Harry Kane saw Spurs claim all three points on opening day.
My man of the match could’ve easily gone for Jack Grealish had it not been for his error which led to the winning goal from Kane late on, however my man of the match is an Aston Villa player, Tyrone Mings. At 1-0 down it felt like every time we had the ball it had to be Mings either getting on the end of it or in front of it, a brilliant addition who will be integral to Aston Villa this season who will beat the drop.
Atmosphere:
Opening day of the season is always good for atmosphere, months waiting for a meaningful and competitive game and it was no different pre-game with Spurs fans getting behind the team whilst the few thousand Villa fans were giving a good account of themselves on their return to the Premier League.
However, the home atmosphere tailed off as John McGinn’s early strike left the White Hart Lane faithful stunned.
The home atmosphere picked up in the second half as Pochettino’s side asserted more pressure on Aston Villa, and raised significantly when Spurs were on level terms. For the last 20 minutes of the game, the atmosphere was good but due to the patchy and inconsistent noise during a nervy opening half I will give the atmosphere a 3.5/5.
Cost:
For the Matchday ticket, I had to fork out £45. Whilst this may sound like a lot of money it’s just the standard rate of football tickets in 2019, with some second tier sides charging £30 per game I felt this was just standard rate, so I am going to give cost a 3/5
Entertainment:
Opening day is always a cagey affair, with both sides wanting to get off to a good start and not show too much weakness ahead of a long campaign.
Aston Villa’s early lead made the game a much more entertaining prospect as it forced Tottenham’s hand to become more expressive and attacking which allowed Villa the opportunity for the occasional counter.
Despite being defensively solid for the majority of the game Villa were not afraid to attack Spurs when the opportunity arose, whilst Pochettino’s side also tested Tom Heaton on various occasions.
I saw many chances at each end, some great saves, some great last ditch challenges and four good goals so I am going to give entertainment a 4/5.
Food:
With a new stadium the architecture is often the main factor of the venue (for obvious reasons) yet Spurs offer the longest running single sporting bar in Europe as well as various food stands situated around the ground which are all sensibly priced and opened until 11pm on a Matchday.
The food was sensibly priced at £2.50 and was excellent value for money so I am going to give food a very impressive 4/5.
Facilities:
Wow, what can I say which hasn’t already been said by people before? It really is a truly elite sporting venue and as a Spurs fan I could not be more impressed or more in awe of the stadium. It represents the next step of Tottenham and truly highlights the clubs ever growing status in the footballing world whilst retaining the core values and sheer nostalgia that made White Hart Lane such a special and sentimental place.
With multiple food stands and bars that are open until 11pm on a Matchday allows fans to have the most enhanced Matchday experience whilst not tapping into the archetypal world of Modern Football.
Taking my spurs hat off for a second, I can honestly say that is a truly elite stadium and represents the strides made by Tottenham.
Facilities undoubtedly gets a 5/5.
Overall I will give the Tottenham Hotspur stadium a 19.5/25 taking it top of the leaderboards.
After a hectic first few days of groundhopping which saw us go to 3 matches in 4 days together, this weekend we went our separate ways. Whilst Luke was travelling down to watch his beloved Tottenham, I was taking in a League One fixture between Portsmouth and Tranmere.
With my new job as an Opta Analyst, I would usually spend my time watching the Southampton youth teams but every now and then they need cover for a match. When they called me up to do the gig I immediately said yes as I had been to Fratton Park and was very impressed with what they had to offer.
My memories of the ground continued as a loud Fratton Park helped Kenny Jackett’s side run out 2-0 winners. A quite stupendous goal from Ben Close and a less emphatic finish from Tom Naylor sealed the win as Pompey recover from their opening day defeat to Shrewsbury.
Atmosphere:
Despite the supposed noise cancelling headphones I was wearing, I still managed to here the synonymous Play up Pompey chant ring around the stadium. They were singing throughout and ultimately helped their team get over the line and give that extra 10%.
The Tranmere fans less so. The fans were noisy at times throughout the games but not anything to write home about. They were literally silenced by the above mentioned delightful finish from Close which you have to catch on EFL on Quest at some point.
I am going to rate the atmosphere 3.5/5
Cost:
As I was working at the game I didn’t have to part way with any many, but for anyone else who’d want to visit the ground for a match the price for an adult ticket is £24. With that plus the train tickets, the price of the day out to the South Coast would be a tad under £50.
This is before thinking about getting a programme or some food, so £50 just to get into the stadium is a steep price to pay for League One football.
So for cost, I am going to rate Portsmouth 1.5/5
Entertainment:
Portsmouth are a team who I always see in and around the play offs recently, so I was expecting some goals on their part. Tranmere on the other hand, I wasn’t expecting much from. The newly promoted side did give it a go, as did their fans but they brought little entertainment to the match.
Portsmouth were quite the opposite. The style of football was clear. Get it to the dangerous full backs who’ll put in sumptuous crosses to the strikers. It didn’t quite materialise like that for much of the match so Close decided to unleash his strike which one Sky Sports Goal of the Day.
Hollywood actor Will Ferrell was also in attendance, and although I didn’t meet him to talk to, I thought I’d add it in anyway.
For entertainment I wil rate it a 3/5
Facilities:
The ground is a lovely old-fashioned stadium which was built all the way back in 1899. Obviously over the years they have replenished the seats/facilities but the sentiment of the old stadium lives on. The ground was sold out for this encounter and the place was literally bouncing at one point.
I was situated at the back of the main stand, which meant I had a slightly restricted view of the other stands surrounding me, and parts of the pitch which were blocked by poles holding up the stand. The ground from the outside is quite unique and if you want something different and some high-quality football then Fratton Park is your place to go.
The facilities I will rate 3/5
Food:
On the way from the train station to the ground I must have seen half a dozen burger or pie vans which all looked and smelled nice but as I was rushing for the train on the way back I had to politely decline, however I am sure if I went again I would try some of that food.
I did have some food during the day at the football. Once I entered the media centre I was given a programme and offered a sausage roll and/or a slice of cake. I took them up on their off for the sausage roll and I’m glad I did. There was also tea and coffee available but as I don’t drink either I didn’t take advantage of it.
For food I am going to rate Portsmouth a 4/5
Man of the Match:
You would think Ben Close has the Man of the Match award wrapped up for me, but no, there was another player that caught my eye. Lee Brown. The former Bristol Rovers full back was marauding down the left hand side and almost had a goal for himself, if the linesman didn’t flag him offside.
He put in cross after cross, many of which reaching their man. A criticism of any otherwise fantastic performance would be that he did overcook a fair few of this deliveries into the box, but with both Pitman and Marquis on, he seemed a lot more comfortable picking somebody out.
So what does this mean?
Well after adding the ratings together, Portsmouth score 15 which actually puts them bottom of the leaderboard. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and didn’t have any real complaints but the rating for the cost really let them down.
It does rank the joint highest for the food which is a positive and I do think if people go there, they will enjoy themselves but it does come in just below Bath and Yeovil.
Next up will be Luke’s review of the Spurs’ match against Aston Villa before I spend next weekend watching Premier League football myself with another trip to the South Coast at Portsmouth’s neighbours Southampton, as they take on European Champions, Liverpool.
After one of the most enthralling title races in Premier League history last season, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s rivalry reached staggering new levels with Guardiola recording the second highest points tally in Premier League history (only second to his City side the previous season) to retain the Premier League title for the first time in the club’s history, whilst Liverpool’s title heartbreak was softened by Champions League glory after a 2-0 win over Tottenham.
However, I believe that despite the momentum gained by Liverpool after securing a sixth European triumph that it will not be enough to dethrone Manchester City and here’s why:
Manchester City’s strength in depth was integral to their fourth Premier League title, winning the league despite long term injuries to Benjamin Mendy and Kevin De Bruyne. Liverpool found themselves with somewhat of a lucky injury record last season with Joe Gomez the only notable absentee for the Reds during the season.
Liverpool’s mouth-watering front three of Firmino, Salah and Mane were all relatively injury free last season and were integral to their excellent league form, however should any of the Reds’ starting front-line fall to injury than Klopp simply doesn’t have the depth to adapt in comparison to Manchester City.
With Klopp yet to add any notable first team additions to his side, and losing squad players such as Alberto Moreno and Daniel Sturridge, I fear that competing on all fronts and more specifically over the course of a league season that Liverpool will fade away.
Manchester City also have no fixtures against any of last season’s top six after April 4th (where they face the Reds), whilst Klopp’s side have to face three of last year’s top six in their last six games.
Who will be relegated?
Relegation is never a nice feeling, the damning confirmation of a season of underachievement and failure is a feeling that all football fans have nightmares of, however each year three clubs have to suffer this numb feeling and here are the three clubs I think will fail to beat the drop this year.
Sheffield United – Last April, Chris Wilder fulfilled a lifelong dream by taking his boyhood club up to the Premier League for the first time since The Blades’ last promotion to the top flight back in 2005/2006 season. Wilder who has worked his way up the footballing pyramid all the way from an amateur level will be testing himself against the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and many more next season, however I feel this is a campaign which will end in tears for the Bramall Lane faithful.
I don’t believe that Sheffield United have a squad capable of maintaining Premier League status, the core values and philosophies put in place by Chris Wilder are exactly the sort of attributes needed to stay afloat, however in the Premier League hard work isn’t enough and the only player with proven Premier League quality to join the Blades this summer is an ageing Phil Jagielka who turns 37 this month. Wilder has taken big punts on proven Championship players such as Ben Osborn, Callum Robinson, Luke Freeman and is poised to add Swansea striker Oli McBurnie to their ranks whilst Ravel Morrison remains somewhat of an enigma in English football. I expect Sheffield United to mount a serious title challenge in the second tier next season with the squad they have.
Brighton – Whilst this is a very harsh prediction, Brighton are the second team I think will be condemned to relegation last year. After getting rid of Chris Hughton in the summer and replacing him with Graham Potter, Brighton are a club that could go either way.
The club have played a pragmatic style under Hughton during their Premier League campaign, and are expected to have a play a more open and expansive brand of football under Graham Potter this season, however sides such as Fulham are an example of the risks that could come with playing a too open attacking style, with the Cottagers sacking Slavisa Jokanovic and replacing him with Claudio Ranieri who is renowned for his conservative style of football.
However, Brighton are a team which do not score many goals and their over-reliance on a soon to be 36 year old Glenn Murray means that the club may not necessarily have enough fire power to maintain Premier League status for a third consecutive season.
Brighton will also be looking at Pascal Gross to rekindle his form of 2017-2018 season which helped the Seagulls avoid the drop. Other than Gross and Murray, star quality is hard to come by for The Seagulls with the likes of Andone, Izquerido and Locadia failing to live up to their billing thus far, add to that the loss of Anthony Knockaert and Potter’s side could be slipping closer and closer to the Championship this season.
However, the recent addition of Neil Maupay could be crucial in securing The Seagulls status in the top flight for another year at least.
Norwich City – My final relegation prediction is Norwich City, I am a big fan of Daniel Farke and the way his sides play football, however I think that they will narrowly miss out on survival.
Norwich will be expecting big things from Teemu Pukki who had an incredible debut season in the second division last year. However, a lot of eyes will be put on Pukki who will be targeted by opposition ahead of fixtures against Norwich.
I feel like overall Norwich’s squad is one that could go either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did stay in the division but if I had to stick my neck on the line I would say that next season they will be playing Championship football.
Players to watch
With the new Premier League season upon the horizon, the transfer window has become the main talking point for football fans ahead of the new upcoming domestic season.
Whether it’s a £60 million foreign import, a promising youngster on a season long loan or an experienced head coming in on a free transfer there’s plenty of eyes on the new imports into the Premier League, but here are the eleven players I will be keeping a close eye on this campaign and you should too.
Yan Valery – Southampton
As far as full backs go there has been little clubs in the top flight with such success in recent years quite like Southampton, with Luke Shaw, Nathaniel Clyne and more recently Ryan Bertrand just a few names impressing on the South Coast in recent years. And it seems The Saints have another gem on their hands in the form of French academy graduate Yan Valery.
The 20 year old right back had a breakthrough season last campaign scoring two goals and grabbing one assist for the Saints whilst managing to put up 1.8 tackles per game.
Southampton’s full backs saw their attacking freedom restricted under the leadership of Saints legend Mark Hughes before he was relieved of his duties towards the tail end of 2018, with Ralph Hassenhutl taking the reins at St Mary’s following an impressive spell with German side RedBull Leipzig.
Hassenhutl’s swashbuckling football allowed the likes of Ryan Bertrand and Yan Valery to demonstrate their attacking credentials, with Valery grabbing a winner against Tottenham in March before scoring at Old Trafford the following week.
Valery impressed Hassenhutl during the Austrian’s debut season at St Mary’s, so much so that the former Leipzig manager was willing to allow first team right back Cedric Soares depart to Inter Milan on a six month loan in order to pave the way for Valery’s development.
Southampton’s struggles maintaining their most prized assets have been their major downfall since their return to the top flight back in 2012, and should Valery impress this term, the young French full back could be the next big export from St Mary’s with Chelsea and Tottenham still yet to resolve their issues at right back.
Emi Buendia – Norwich City
It’s fair to say this time last year few people would have tipped Norwich City to be promoted from the Championship as champions following a 14th placed finish under new manager Daniel Farke the previous season. Add to that the big money exports of both James Maddison and Josh Murphy and some Canaries fans may have been forgiven for a lack of expectation ahead of the new season at Carrow Road.
After a standout campaign for Norwich which eventually earned him a Premier League move, James Maddison was identified as a huge loss for Farke’s side after contributing to 26 goals in all competitions during his second season in England’s second tier, add to that the big money loss of Josh Murphy, and some Canaries fans may have been forgiven for a lack of expectation ahead of the new season at Carrow Road.
However, the appointment of Stuart Webber as technical director proved to be a stroke of genius and helped lay the foundations for an excellent season at Carrow Road. Weber helped identify the likes of Emiliano Buendia, Moritz Leitner and Teemu Pukki from foreign shores all for a very low price, moves that would change the Canaries’ fortunes for the better.
Whilst Teemu Pukki stole the headlines with his 30 goals in his debut campaign, one of the most important cogs to “FarkeBall” last term was playmaker Emiliano Buendia.
Buendia registered eight goals and 17 assists in all competitions during his debut season in English football, registering 2.4 key passes per game as well as 1.4 dribbles per game. At 22 years old, Emi Buendia has all the attributes to become an established Premier League player for years to come.
Norwich City have regularly checked in and out of the Premier League for the best part of just under a decade now, failing to secure Premier League status since the 2012-2013 season. With three promotions and two relegations in nine seasons, The Canaries will be looking to become a Premier League regular under Daniel Farke, and if they do achieve that goal expect Emiliano Buendia to be a key component, should Norwich fall down to the Championship once more, Buendia could be set for a big move back to the Premier League.
Tanguy Ndombele – Tottenham Hotspur
Following an 18 month voluntary hiatus from the transfer market, many were shocked when Tottenham Hotspur ended their 517 day drought with the club record signing of highly-rated Lyon and France midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.
Spurs have been over reliant on the likes of Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko to pull the strings in midfield following the sale of Mousa Dembele back in January and towards the end of the season central midfield had become more and more of a weak spot for Pochettino’s side.
However, the signing of Tanguy Ndombele marks the dawn of a new era upon the horizon on N17, with Spurs splashing £65 million on Ndombele to earmark the start of their first full season in their new 62,500 seater stadium.
Ndombele has been compared to former Spurs midfielder Mousa Dembele for his elite ball progression, tackles and interceptions. However, the one criticism of the dynamic Dembele was his lack of involvement in the final third of the game with the Belgian averaging 0.6 key passes during his final full season at Spurs, whilst Tanguy Ndombele averaged 1.3 per 90, as well as putting up 1.9 tackles and 0.8 interceptions per game both significantly more than Dembele.
After a poor finish to the domestic campaign, Spurs’ newly reformed strength in depth makes them a real force to be reckoned with in the Premier League this campaign with the arrival of Ndombele allowing Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen to play further forward to support the already glistening attack of Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-Min.
Dani Ceballos – Arsenal
After narrowly missing out on Champions League football last season during Unai Emery’s debut campaign at the Emirates, some Arsenal fans may not have been too optimistic about the upcoming window with the club’s transfer budget being quoted at just £45 million.
However, the Gunners have already spent big on Saint-Etienne teenage defender William Saliba as well as securing the services of young Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Martinelli. However, the most impressive piece of business conducted by Emery thus far has been the addition of Real Madrid outcast Dani Ceballos on a season long loan.
Despite the Gunners not having an option to permanently secure the services of Ceballos, the Spanish midfielder has the quality needed in order to regain Champions League status after a three year absence.
Ceballos earned a move to Real Madrid after a fantastic season for Real Betis during the 2016-2017 season, however has struggled to gain minutes in a star-studded squad at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mateo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira had promising campaigns last time out but struggled to provide more creativity and dynamism towards the front-line, however with the temporary addition of Ceballos ball progression and creativity should no longer be a problem for Emery’s side. The Real Madrid man averaged 1.3 dribbles and key passes per game last season.
It’s no surprise that Zinedine Zidane is reluctant to offload Dani Ceballos on a permanent basis, expect Ceballos to become a key man for Arsenal this season.
After a double header of Bath and Bristol City on the opening weekend, we started the new game-week with a trip to Huish Park to visit Harry’s beloved Yeovil Town in their first home game since their relegation from the football league last season.
Me and Harry hail from two contrasting ends of the footballing spectrum, whilst I’m preparing myself for a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium this Saturday, my eyes were opened to the sight of Huish Park for the first time beforehand.
My first experience of Yeovil Town was a fortunate one, as The Glovers sealed a first home win since March as Courtney Duffus’ early strike gave the Glovers all three points over fellow promotion hopefuls Eastleigh.
Atmosphere:
After being condemned to a third relegation in just six seasons, the latest demotion would have been the most cutting for the Huish Park faithful as they drop into non-league.
It would not be surprising to see a decrease in attendance, yet last night over 2,800 supporters turned out to see Yeovil secure their first three points of their National League season.
The atmosphere before kick off and during the first 15 minutes was very loud and impressive however the noise died down as the first half grew older and didn’t pick up to the same level until around the 70th minute mark.
As Eastleigh began to throw more men forward and assert more pressure on Yeovil’s backline, the Huish park faithful grew in voices and got behind their team during the nervy closing stages of the game.
The atmosphere was impressive for the numbers in the ground but was very patchy in stages, for me I will rank this as a 3.5/5.
Cost:
The tickets came to a total cost of £10 each, and with a lift down from Harry’s dad our travel and matchday experience came to just £10.
Whilst this price could be found at some football league clubs, it has become the standard rate for a game at this level due to the inflation of ticket prices.
For me I will give Cost a 3/5.
Entertainment:
This was your classic early season promotion six-pointer, both teams not giving not too much away and adopting a somewhat pragmatic style of play.
The early goal allowed Yeovil to sit back and not take many risks, and with Eastleigh failing to create many clear goal scoring opportunities, action at either end of the pitch was few and far between.
The final 20 minutes of the half consisted of many nearly moments from an Eastleigh perspective and squeaky bum time for The Glovers.
For me due to the way the match played out I am going to give entertainment a 2.5/5.
Facilities:
As we travel to more and more football grounds, it becomes evidently clear that each division has contrasting facilities (obviously).
Huish Park is your archetypal League Two ground, the majority of the capacity is standing and is a compressed small ground.
However, I was a fan of Huish Park whilst it may not be the most glamorous nor biggest stadium it serves a purpose for the level its at. It’s the type of ground where locals can come down to the terraces and create atmosphere by bashing the back walls of the stand to get the team going.
For this I will give facilities a 2.5/5
Food:
Now, Harry isn’t the most optimistic fan of Yeovil Town and this trip came with many precautions from him and most notably the food. Whilst I took his precautions with a pinch of salt I have to say I should’ve listened when he said about the food.
Whilst being priced at £2.20 the sausage roll would seem like a bargain, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth (quite literally) and in spite of a good trip down to Huish Park,
I must say that the food scores a measly 2/5 for me.
Overall Yeovil scored a total of 13.5 points, putting them tied with Bath City, to see the leaderboard in all its glory you can find it by clicking the link here
Man of the match: In a game void of any real clear outstanding quality, it was hard to look past new Yeovil striker Rhys Murphy as man of the match.
Murphy was poached from Chelmsford City where he had netted 28 times last season, and whilst it was his striking partner Courtney Duffus who will steal the headlines with his winner, Murphy was the best player on the pitch for me.
He held the ball up very well as well as defending from the front, his creativity and passing was very good and just needed a goal to cap off an excellent home debut.
Next up is a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium for the first time on Saturday for me, whilst Harry ventures up to Fratton Park.
For the love of the game 