Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas believes that Atletico Madrid will grab a crucial away goal against Arsenal in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday night.
The Gunners arguably got the worst possible draw, which will make it that much tougher to go all the way in the competition.
The Europa League is not regarded as highly as the Champions League, but taking home the trophy is a huge priority for Arsenal.
Not only will it be the perfect way to say goodbye to long-standing manager Arsene Wenger, it will secure a place in next season’s top-tiered tournament.
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The North London outfit are not expected to qualify for the Champions League via the domestic route as they sit 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
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On Thursday, Arsenal will take on an Atletico team that have picked up just one victory in their last five outings.
In a predictions piece for Sky Sports, Nicholas backed Arsenal to claim victory at the Emirates, but expects Diego Simeone’s side to get on the scoresheet.
“Atletico are heavy favourites for me with their defensive strength and Arsenal’s backline constantly making me nervous. How Shkodran Mustafi is still in the team is beyond me, but the competition isn’t really there. There’s not much between these two sides other than their defences and I can see Arsenal scoring a couple of times at the Emirates Stadium, but my concern is keeping that concentration to prevent Atletico snatching a vital away goal.”
Manchester United qualified for next season’s Champions League quite comfortably in the end, with a fourth-placed finish ensuring they achieved their primary aim following last year’s failings.
Having returned to Europe’s premier competition, Louis van Gaal has already set about strengthening his squad for next season as he looks to build a side that can challenge for the Premier League next term.
One man who won’t be involved, however, is Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who will not be making his loan move from Monaco into a permanent one after failing to impress at Old Trafford.
The forward struck just four times during a dismal campaign, where he failed to live up to expectations.
Falcao’s departure is sure to mean van Gaal will be looking to add another striker to his squad, as he looks to increase his side’s goal threat next campaign.
And if reports are to be believed, they have earmarked a number of potential signings to replace the former Atletico star.
With this in mind, here are five strikers who could be on their way to Manchester United this summer…
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Carlos Bacca
Football – Sevilla v Valencia – UEFA Europa League Semi Final First Leg – Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla, Spain – 24/4/14Carlos Bacca celebrates after he scores Sevilla’s second goalMandatory Credit: Action Images / Carl RecineLivepicEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
United may well opt to strengthen their front line with another Colombian who has enjoyed a far more prolific season than his international teammate.
Carlos Bacca has certainly impressed this season at Sevilla, scoring 28 times and helping his side lift the Europa League thanks to a double in Wednesday’s final against Dnipro.
With his stock continuing to rise, it’s no surprise to see him linked with a move to the Premier League, and the Red Devils have emerged as favourites to sign the 28-year-old striker who could cost around £21m.
Karim Benzema
Another La Liga star who could be set for a move to the Premier League is Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.
Reports this week suggest the Frenchman has emerged as a £40m target for Manchester United, who are keen to sign the 27-year-old, a proven goalscorer at the top level.
Benzema has 22 goals this season, but Real are thought to be willing to cash in on the striker who has won every major trophy in his time at the club.
United could well face stiff competition from Arsenal, but Benzema certainly has the quality to fire them to a title challenge should he make the switch to Old Trafford.
Harry Kane
Tottenham’s Harry Kane was one of the standout performers this season in the Premier League, announcing himself at the top level with an impressive 21 goals, a feat that saw him named the PFA Young Player of the Year.
Unsurprisingly his terrific performances this season have already got people talking about his future at White Hart Lane, with Louis van Gaal reportedly making the Englishman one of his top transfer targets this summer.
Although it remains unlikely, should United be able to tempt the striker away from Spurs before next season, they will have to fork out around £45m to get their man.
Edinson Cavani
The future of PSG striker Edinson Cavani was put into doubt recently when the Uruguayan revealed he may need to leave the Ligue 1 champions due to his frustration at being deployed as a winger.
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The forward wants to be playing up front, which has led to rumours of a move to either Manchester United or Chelsea, among others.
Despite regularly playing out of position, the 28-year-old has found the net 27 times, something which will certainly catch the eye of van Gaal.
He won’t come cheap however and could cost as much as £50m.
Gonzalo Higuain
Sunday’s Serie A clash between Napoli and Lazio could have a big bearing on the future of Gonzalo Higuain, who is expected to leave Italy should his side fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The Argentine has been linked with a host of clubs including Arsenal and Chelsea, with United also keen on the 27-year old who has 15 goals to his name this season.
Higuain is another option that looks set to cost in excess of £40m, which may mean van Gaal looks elsewhere for a new striker.
There have a been a few memorable moments in Coventry City’s history with the most notable being the historic FA Cup victory of 1987 but for me personally it was a match which took place 8 years ago this week that will live forever in my memory.
The match I’m referring to of course is Coventry’s last ever game at Highfield Road. With everything going on at the club right now it is hard not to look back and reminisce about better days. We might have had similarly bad times at Highfield Road in terms of finances but at least we had a genuine home. It was ours and it felt like home and when you compare that to the Ricoh now well there is no comparison.
Highfield road was part of our club, it had all of the clubs history and it was a place we called home. On that final day there was of course mixed emotions from all involved. It was always going to be a sad day with us leaving a stadium that was such a massive part of so many people’s lives and inevitably it was.
However it was a send off to treasure as we were treated to 8 goals with the game finishing 6-2 to Coventry. Goals from Gary McSheffery (2), Dele Adebola, Stern John (2) and Andy Whing not only won the game in style but staved off the threat of relegation which still loomed over the club at the time.
There are so many little things I remember from that day ranging from the beautiful sunshine we had to the excitement before the game as well as the mixed emotions when leaving for the final time. It was a day to remember but a day that should never have happened. Any club looking to move to bigger ground first needs to be on sound financial footing. This is something that everyone knows that we haven’t been on a sound footing financially for a very long time.
The guys who made the final decision to move to the Ricoh should be held responsible for the state the club now finds itself in. Highfield road was plenty big enough for a club our size and with the club owning the ground it was able to make money from it. How these guys expected the club to survive in such an expensive new ground still baffles me to this day.
Highfield Road was a special place with a special atmosphere but like the Ricoh, Highfield road was very rarely packed out. On that final day 22,728 fans made sure it was for one last time and helped make it the special occasion it was. What Highfield road always had though was an atmosphere. There could be as little as 9-10,000 fans and there would still be noise around the ground.
This is a feature of the older grounds which almost seems to have been lost in the majority of the new builds. We all know how silent it has been in the past at the Ricoh, so silent you can here conversations from few rows away. This isn’t just us though with it happening to a big club like Arsenal who since moving to the Emirates from Highbury have noticed changes to the atmosphere at games which is often noticeable when watching matches live on TV.
The stadiums though are supposed to be designed to carry noise and make for a better atmosphere but something about them seems to stop this from happening. There is no doubting they can be noisy arena’s but I think the difference between them and the older grounds is they need to be full for them to noisy. There is no doubting however that the Ricoh and other new arena’s are spectacular venues but I can see why clubs find it hard to settle in them and call it there home.
A lot has got to happen for the Ricoh to become City’s new home and at the moment it is looking more likely that we will never play there again. There is so much to sort out at the club over this summer period but where city will be playing their home games next season is for me the biggest concern. Without a home our football club feels lost and no plans can be made by any of us regarding going to matches in the new season until this particular issue is all sorted.
Moving away from the whole stadium issue and there has been revelations coming from the club in regards to the squad. Steven Pressley had already admitted that he wanted to trim the squad size down and he wasted no time with five players having already been released. Elliot, Philliskirk, Stewart, Cameron and most notably Wood have all left the club having not been offered new contracts.
I don’t think any are a surprise and some I’m glad to see go but Wood is the biggest loss to the club. There is no doubt he was our best centre half but with injuries a constant theme in his career and him being rumoured to be the top earner at the club there is no surprise he has been allowed to leave.
It is however good to hear talks are taking place over Aaron Martin who has been a good addition at the back since his arrival on loan from Southampton. Obviously with the current transfer embargo and everything else, these talks may well end up going nowhere.
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Another player who has hinted via twitter that he may be on his way is Gary McSheffery. A Coventry lad who hasn’t exactly been impressive since his return to the club but being a Coventry lad and his previous good spell with the club I will still find myself being sad to see him leave. He is though going to be another top earner at the club and this may be the reasoning behind his possible transfer away from his hometown club.
Manchester United are reportedly ready to dispense with the services of Anthony Martial in the summer and Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with an ambitious swoop for the Frenchman.
The forward – valued at £58.5m by Transfermarkt – has found gametime hard to come by this season, especially since the arrival of Alexis Sanchez in January.
Popular forward Marcus Rashford is in a similar predicament but has greater loyalty to his local club so the conclusion has been that Martial will be the one to depart Old Trafford in the summer.
But would it be a good fit for Tottenham? Martial clearly has the talent and potential to be a hit at Spurs but we’ve decided to take a look at the bigger picture at the club right now to examine the impact his rumoured arrival would have on the situation in North London as it stands…
Consequence 1 – Erik Lamela leaves the club
Soccer Football – Premier League – AFC Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur – Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain – March 11, 2018 Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino celebrates after the match with Erik Lamela Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publi
Martial does not have an obvious place in the best Spurs eleven, although he might fancy his chances of displacing Son Heung-min, but his arrival would surely push Lamela even further down the pecking order.
With Lucas Moura also bought with next season in mind, suddenly Pochettino would have injections of pace on the bench ready to change a game. The need for Lamela would be diminished.
The Argentine’s work-rate and ability to rile rival players had endeared him to some fractions of the Spurs faithful but he is simply not the flair player that they thought they were getting to replace Gareth Bale.
Martial’s arrival could well spell the end for Lamela.
Consequence 2 – Fernando Llorente barely plays
Soccer Football – FA Cup Fourth Round Replay – Tottenham Hotspur vs Newport County – Wembley Stadium, London, Britain – February 7, 2018 Tottenham’s Fernando Llorente reacts after a missed chance Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Buying a back-up striker to Harry Kane is an incredibly difficult task. Anybody of sufficient quality will not willingly move to spend most of their time on the bench so Pochettino is stuck shopping for players around Llorente’s level.
The arrival of Martial would be the perfect solution to the problem. Like Son, he is comfortable playing in another position, where he will pick up most of his gametime when Kane is fit, but Martial is a more able frontman if required.
Martial’s dynamism and youth puts him on a different plane to Llorente and he would provide a viable alternative to Kane if the situation demanded it.
Consequence 3 – Spurs can play 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 as and when they want
Spurs switched between a three-man and four-man back four with greater regularity last season and that flexibility has always been a key part of what Pochettino has tried to do there.
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He stunned Real Madrid in the Bernabeu by playing Kane and Llorente in a front two and caused enough problems to win the game on another night. If Martial was fielded alongside Kane, the duo could form a frontline to trouble defences at home and abroad.
Kane was even fielded in a withdrawn number 10 role in the second half at Brighton and having the option of playing Martial through the middle might make that switch a more regular occurrence.
Pochettino wouldn’t use it every week but it would be another string to the Tottenham bow.
The FA have tried to stop the rapid decline of young English players in the Premier League but statistics show that they are failing miserably.
The current quota of domestic players Premier League clubs must have is eight but earlier this season FA Chairman Greg Dyke tried to get clubs to agree to increase this to 12. Whilst every team has to have the young players it seems not all of them are using them to their best advantage. Four clubs, Manchester City, Hull City, Chelsea and Stoke City, have not given any starts to domestic players age 23 or under. While people will not be as surprised by Chelsea and Man City, the other two come as something of a shock.
Money talks in football and those with more to spend look all around the world for the best talent that they can buy. Clubs like Hull and Stoke tend to have more domestic players as it is what they can afford, but something is clearly going wrong. The issue has become a major battle ground between the FA and the Premier League clubs but research shows that in the past decade home-grown talent as decreased at an alarming rate. Only Southampton, Aston Villa and Newcastle have produced more than five domestic youngsters in the last ten years.
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At the other end of the scale, seventh place Tottenham have given 71 starts between young stars, Harry Kane, Andros Townsend and Ryan Mason. Arsenal are the highest top four team with 41 starts but they have only produced three home-grown players over the last decade – Justin Hoyte, Jack Wilshire and Kieran Gibbs.
The statistics show just how much the Premier League has become a world league not an English one anymore. Statistics show that clubs spend around £3million-per-club on their academies so what they are producing for the first teams is pitiful. There is plenty of young talent in the UK but because clubs are spending big money to bring in names from Europe and South America. It is no wonder our England team is not up to scratch. While we have a number of very talent players in the England squad we are never going to be the best in the world if our own league doesn’t utilise our players. You get better by playing more and at the moment our domestic players aren’t getting enough game time.
Whilst Southampton may lead the way in the number of home-grown under-23s they have produced they have only given 21 starts to them so far this season. Greg Dyke might think that increasing the quota of home grown players is the right answer but just because they have more English players doesn’t mean they will play them. Whilst the Premier League clubs have become very outspoken in this matter, saying that it is unfair, something needs to be done.
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We want the Premier League to be the best league in the world but we do not want our four national teams losing out because of it. English players can be the best in the world, clubs just need to give them the chance.
You could almost sense the disappointment on the faces of everyone at Sky last weekend when Everton sprung a surprise by beating a deeply out-of-sorts Manchester City side 2-0 at Goodison Park. The title race was officially over. Not mathematically yet, but this was no longer a race, well none more so than one between myself and Usain Bolt would be. No, this was a coronation, with Manchester United the clear winners. It wasn’t supposed to be this easy. There are still nine games of the season left to play, which is an embarrassingly meek defence of their maiden Premier League crown, but what do they need to do to become more of a threat next season?
Firstly, let’s establish that City have improved immeasurably under Mancini’s reign and up until this season, they’ve improved year on year, winning the FA Cup first in 2011 before pipping rivals United to the title in the most dramatic of fashions last season. Nevertheless, post-mortems of where it has all gone wrong for the club this season haven’t been in short supply over the course of the past week or so, but in all reality, despite the Sky rhetoric, it’s been over long before that. What has been a noticeable trend, though, has been the glee with which some of them have been written; Mancini is obviously a man who can occasionally rub people up the wrong way, but the sight of him being portrayed as some sort of clueless clown, when you consider the mess he inherited from predecessor Mark Hughes, really is quite bizarre.
The immediate reaction with City now from most observers is that they’ll just throw money at the problem. They’ll buy a new squad. Or the very essence of one at least, while the newspapers have been flooded with reports about ‘huge summer clear-outs’, which in reality almost actually never happens, and just like player exchange deals, they appear to be confined solely to either the print media or the realms of Football Manager.
Bearing in mind the future of the manager is not guaranteed, given that there is an all likelihood set to be something of a managerial merry-go-round in the summer involving some exceptional coaching talent, it makes discussing likely transfer targets a futile gesture if ever there was one, but departures are easier to judge.
A revealing interview with City chief executive and former Barcelona transfer puppet-master Ferran Soriano in the Gazzetta dello Sport published Wednesday hinted that there may be a more radical approach to transfers on the horizon: “My way of football? One year you can win with luck, but in the long term you need planning and investments to reach the final of the Champions League.
“In 2003 we did a study at Barcelona. For each player landed in the first team from the ‘cantera’ there was an average cost of £2m. Nothing if you think the current costs. Even at a age of five years you should get the style of the club, then the rewards will come.
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“Our problem is to find players stronger then ours. It’s not easy. There are rumours associating them [Stevan Jovetic and Erik Lamela] to City, but I never comment on market rumours. In the last three years there have been losses of £200m, then of £100m and now there is a ‘red’ of £50m. But we also have just invested £150 million for the structures of the youth sector. It’s a fantastic project, focusing on financial sustainability.”
That last line is perhaps the most interesting, seeing as it implicitly acknowledges the need for the club to adjust and reign in their spending so as to comply with Financial Fair Play. As an initial compromise, clubs will be able to record maximum losses of €45 million (£39.5m) in total over the first three years (which includes right now). That can be subsidised by an owner but only if they invest the money permanently in return for shares, not by lending it as Roman Abramovich did when he first took control of Chelsea. If owners are unable to subsidise debts, the maximum loss is €5m (£4.4m). From 2014 to 2017, the overall permitted loss will fall to €30m (£26.3m) for each three-year block monitored by Uefa. After that, Uefa hope clubs will have learned financial balance and be genuinely breaking even, or that’s the idea at least.
The problem facing City at the moment, though, is that despite spending approximately £54m last summer padding out their squad in terms of numbers and depth, they still looks woefully short of options in key positions and don’t have a lot to show for their investment. Meanwhile, key members of the squad such as Vincent Kompany, Joe Hart, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero simply haven’t performed as well this season as last, while only really Matija Nastasic has had any sort of lasting impact on the starting eleven of the new faces brought in, with the jury still firmly out on the top flight’s most handsome man, Javi Garcia.
While the ‘big summer clear out’ stories are often ridiculous, as many as 10 players could feasibly leave in the summer – Santa Cruz, Bridge, Maicon, Kolarov, Dzeko, Lescott, Nasri, Sinclair, Tevez and Kolo Toure – with Yaya Toure’s agent kicking up something of a stink by threatening that his client will leave at the end of the season over his disgust that contract negotiations have taken so long to get going.
That doesn’t leave a lot to work with and what you’re left with is a side short on quality and depth, hardly helped by Mancini’s seeming inability to rotate his squad at all, instead counting predominantly on a core cast of players to support them on multiple fronts. Sinclair has in essence just replaced Adam Johnson in all but name, even playing less, giving credence to the thought that Mancini sees his squad as a two-tiered hierarchy based on prestige and status. It’s certainly a difficult party to break into.
When it comes to challenging for the title next season, should they keep the main spine of their side, remarkably, they still look better prepared than any of their so-called rivals to truly give United a run for their money. In the end, it all comes down to what you define as a ‘title challenge’. City being second in the league ensures they have at some point challenged by virtue of being the closest to the eventual winners of the league, but a 15-point gap with nine games left to go doesn’t point to a very good challenge, more of a leisurely disagreement over how to split a hefty bar bill.
Considering they’ve spent an awful lot of money, the current City squad isn’t in fantastic shape, even if they possess, when everyone is fully fit at least, a side to be feared. The financial constraints on the horizon mean a concerted push like the one in the summer of 2010 or even 2011 just isn’t possible, and the restructuring needed will have to be levelled out over a couple of years. The good thing about being such a wealthy club is, though, that there aren’t many bigger fish in the proverbial pond to bully you around, so keeping hold of their best and brightest shouldn’t be a problem, but the road back to the summit looks a longer one than we could have ever imagined just a few short months ago.
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They’ve done it once before, akin to scaling Mount Everest by taking a helicopter all the way to the top bar the last ten feet, now a more scenic and altogether tougher route is required. A lot can change in just a few short months, as this campaign has taught us, but there looks to be a busy summer ahead for Mancini, Soriano and co for them to go into next term with any real hope of wrestling the title out of the clutches of old red nose.
They remain a threat, but a fragile one at that. They’re far from a club in crisis, but this year they’ve been made to appear just a little more mortal than seemed possible. Rediscovering that ruthless swagger and restoring the team’s confidence is the most economical path available at the moment, even if a spot of spring cleaning may also be in order, but whether the man tasked with carrying out both jobs is Mancini or not remains to be seen.
Southampton find themselves in a very tricky situation as their Premier League status hangs in the balance.
As it stands, the coastal club are three points from safety and have six games left to save their season.
Last weekend, Mark Hughes’s side had a tough encounter against Arsenal, but the players held their own at the Emirates.
Shane Long managed to give Southampton the lead, and Charlie Austin also got on the scoresheet, but the Gunners fought back to earn a 3-2 triumph.
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Despite the fact that the Saints lost and Jack Stephens was sent off in the dying moments, there were some positives for the fans, many of whom believe that Austin could be their saviour for the run-in.
Before the campaign comes to a close, Southampton will face Chelsea, Leicester City, Bournemouth, Everton, Swansea City and champions elect Manchester City.
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The coastal club could realistically drop into the Championship, and some supporters already feel that their fate is sealed.
Handfuls of the club’s following have already been discussing which players will leave and which will remain loyal if they suffer relegation.
In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay? from r/SaintsFC
Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.Comment from discussion In the event we do go down, which players are sure to leave us, and of the ones we actually want, which are likely to stay?.
For the 2014/15 season, Leicester City finally made it back into the Premier League. Leicester City spent the last decade in the Championship and League One.
They came close to making it back to the top tier in 2010, and of course in 2013. Last season, Leicester City topped the Championship table with a staggering 102 points, and a nine-point lead. But since returning to the top flight, they have struggled massively with the pressure. Where did it all go wrong for Nigel Pearson’s side?
In their first four Premier League games, Leicester City managed to bag just two points out of a potential twelve. The points came from draws with Everton and Arsenal – which should be considered a result. It’s no surprise that Leicester lost to Chelsea, but unfortunately also lost to Stoke.
Their fifth game of the season, though, is one that will surely go down in their history. The emphatic 5-3 win over Manchester United. A big win, over a ‘Big Six’ side, and on home turf. This win was not an indication of things to come for Nigel Pearson’s squad though, as they would not go on to secure another win in the league until January.
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In the FA Cup, on the other hand, Leicester found themselves progressing all the way to the fifth round. Leicester City claimed victories over Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur – two sides they could not overcome in the Premier League. Yet, Leicester City lost their place in the FA Cup to Aston Villa, the side they recorded their last win against in January.
Leicester’s poor form has not just been away, it has also been at home. Leicester City have been in the relegation zone since November – after losing 3-2 to fellow relegation candidates Queens Park Rangers. This poor form, and now being dead last in the Premier League table, did not make things easy for them when it came to the January transfer window.
Deals struggled to come together for Nigel Pearson, but he was able to secure the signings of Andrej Kramaric and Mark Schwarzer. Unfortuantely, these signings were not enough to bring Leicester City out of the dreaded bottom three. With nine games left to go, Leicester City have just 19 points to their name.
It almost seems like a waste for Leicester City to drop back down to the Championship after all these years and following such a successful run last year. But, it is not uncommon for recently promoted sides to be relegated in the first season at the top tier.
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With their new found Premier League experience, Leicester City could go on to top the Championship again, and work their way back up to the top flight.
Since the inception of the Premier League, it’s been a rollercoaster ride for Leeds United fans. They’ve gone from being defending champions in the inaugural season to Champions League semi finalists in the David O’Leary era before ending up in the depths of League One. The Whites are on the path of recovery now, finding themselves competing in the Championship but there have been plenty of times to forget.
Unfortunately, there’s been some utter tosh pull on the famous white shirt at Elland Road. Financial hardships meant Leeds had to rely on whoever they could convince to play for the club, or by borrowing players off other clubs. This situation has ensured the Leeds fans have witnessed some truly atrocious individuals turning out for their football club, scenes that they hope will never be repeated. It’s almost impossible to sort through some of the rubbish that has played for Leeds, but we’ve compiled the worst XI signings ever to play for the Whites.
How exactly has it come to this? Two of the Premier League’s most financially stable, most mid-table clubs meeting for a 3pm game of Russian Roulette upon finding themselves either side of the dreaded drop line.
With potential survival on the line against an equally unexpected relegation rival, West Ham and Southampton’s Premier League clash on Saturday has reduced to essentially that; two nervous participants shaking at the knees, still trying to work out how they’ve ended up in this morbid situation, taking turns not to shoot themselves in the face.
One false move and the final games of the season, especially considering the calibre of opposition involved, will have a painfully inevitable feel about them.
Indeed, if this season should be remembered for anything other than Manchester City’s incredible, relentless dominance, it’s undoubtedly the way in which the division’s traditional middle order has suddenly collapsed.
Having never finished lower than 14th or higher than sixth since both returning to the Premier League in summer 2012, West Ham and Southampton’s debasing campaigns are a huge part of that, but the phenomena is by no means exclusive to them; Stoke City finished ninth during three of the last four seasons but are now in the relegation zone, rock-bottom West Brom were placed tenth last term and even Everton – one of the few clubs outside the big six who can comfortably expect to maintain their Premier League status at a bare minimum every year – spent the early months of 2017/18 engrossed in the battle for survival.
But what’s most curious about Southampton and West Ham particularly is how both clubs have taken entirely different paths to reach where they are now, and how both sets of fans are probably a little envious of the opposing model – even though it has brought them to almost exactly same place this season.
Quite what that means for the Premier League still isn’t particularly clear, but it suggests there are more systematic factors at work than simply several clubs falling short of their usual standards.
After all, Southampton’s approach of placing huge faith in young players, some from their own academy, fits perfectly into West Ham’s traditional identity – back when their youth setup was so revered it was widely referred to as simply ‘The Academy’.
Now though, the London Stadium has become a holding house of Premier League mercenaries and players whose reputations tend to exceed their actual form.
The only players with any true, long-term connections to the club are James Collins and Mark Noble, although Declan Rice’s emergence this season has given a pinch of hope that West Ham’s academy can still churn out top flight talent when given the chance to do so.
In any case though, it’s only added to the narrative that David Gold, David Sullivan and Karren Brady have slowly stripped away the identity of arguably the Premier League’s most idiosyncratic club.
Southampton fans, on the other hand, understandably lament the way their club has become a stepping stone for exciting young players, imported or academy-developed, and an overreliance on them has undoubtedly lead to this season’s mess.
While Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk, Morgan Schneiderlin, Adam Lallana and company all earned big moves elsewhere by propelling Southampton up the league table, the next batch of prominent youngsters with big potential have struggled to realise it in quite the same way – Nathan Redmond, Mario Lemina and Sofiane Boufal most notably.
Indeed, it often feels as if this Southampton side would benefit hugely from a dose of the level of Premier League experience West Ham brought to the London Stadium last summer, a fully fledged England international like Joe Hart, a seasoned combatant like Pablo Zabaleta, and a Premier League-proven forward like Marko Arnautovic.
A few signings with that established pedigree may well have provided some much-needed balance and consistency in an incredibly underwhelming campaign, but in the five years since returning to the Premier League, Southampton have purchased just four players directly from top flight rivals (excluding free transfers) – Ryan Bertrand, Oriol Romeu, Shane Long and Alex McCarthy.
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But alas, with West Ham and Southampton something close to symmetrical opposites of each other yet still facing the same grim scenario of relegation, perhaps those clubs involved in the 2017/18 dogfight should be looking outward rather than inward to try and understand this season. Of course, incompetence is a huge factor and both sets of fans will argue their respective clubs have been guilty of that not only this season but in prior campaigns too, leading to their current crises.
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Once again, though, look around the Premier League; it’s certainly plausible for two mid-table clubs to eventually succumb to their own errors, but we’re talking about five or six this season who – despite taking largely different approaches based around different identities – all find themselves staring nervously towards the Championship.
So, how exactly did it come to this – the roads being so different, yet the consequences being practically the same? One can point to the increased dominance of the big six, the almost dystopian equality of finance of those below them, the sudden shift towards defensive football, or the subsequent questions over the overall quality of the Premier League these days.
But whichever conclusion you personally prescribe to, it still feels as if this only the start of the Premier League’s natural hierarchy falling into complete disarray.