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Greetings all.
Welcome to this article from me, Dylan, with ko2ft. Today, I wish to pick apart a few aspects of the Premier League season that may have been overlooked throughout the season so far. This type of article is not one seen around often, as today I wish to take a look and focus on some heroes and villains of the Premier League season so far.
How can a player, a team, or a manager be a hero or a villain I hear you ask? In the hero section, I’m going to highlight some good elements of teams, coaches, players’ seasons that I believe have gone under the radar in the mainstream. I will adapt a similar premises with the villain section, looking at players, managers or teams in general that haven’t quite been up to scratch this year and perhaps this isn’t also spoken about enough in the mainstream.
Join me as we look at the Avengers of this articles: our heroes.
What to start by focusing on a team in general someone who’s been hitting all the right beat this year from the goalkeeper to the strike on the pitch. The team I’d really like to highlight is Aston Villa. Everybody can agree that the job that Unai Emery is doing with Aston Villa at the minute is expert: it’s revolutionary to the type of football they were playing under Gerrard and Dean Smith in the past few years. Although it is becoming a cliche online that all Villa fans like to talk about online is how if you look at the Premier League season as a calendar year- from January to now- and how high up they’d be there, it is a fantastic achievement that really should not be overlooked. Personally, I had my doubts went Emery returned to the Premier League, as despite the fantastic job he did with Villareal not only in the Champions League but in the Europa League also, as well as the fantastic base of work he already established in Spanish for football with Sevilla, I did not believe that he would turn Aston Villa into the team we see today. When he was appointed last November, if you’d have asked me where I think Emery would take Aston Villa, I’d have said in three to five Years time he’d make them an established top 10 team that always floats around the top seven or eight, perhaps even qualifying for the Europa League or the Europa Conference League at some point.
However, Emery has gone even further than my previous predictions. Of course, they’re favorites to win the Europa Conference League, which I think would be a fantastic trophy to get under their belt. My only fear with them is that when they do make it into the Europa League, which feels inevitable in 2024, whether they will have the mentality and the ability to cope with competing in the Europa League, which of course they will want to to do whilst also trying to reach European spots in the Premier League. Of course, for a club the size of Austin Villa and a manager that will strive for success in every competition they’re in, they will also be looking to compete in the league cup and the FA Cup and unless they make more good depth signings next summer like they did this summer with the likes of Youri Tielemans and Nicolo Zaniolo, then I doubt that they’re going to be able to cope for at least one season.
I think currently Villa have tremendous depth in their attack, and especially in that centre-back role with I’d argue, if you’re looking at the depth in options with their fourth centre-backs, is up there with some of the best in the league. For example, you look at Arsenal, who have a tremendous partnership in Saliba and Gabriel, but other than that if one of them get injured then they don’t even have the likes of Rob holding anymore to uphold that position. Though Timber is a great buy for them, unfortunately his injury record may come back to bite them should any bad long-term injury occur for Saliba or Gabriel. Whereas if you look at villa, if everyone is fit I believe they’re go-to 2 would be Pau Torres and Mings, but even if one of them are not there they have sufficient cover in England international Ezri Konsa and a very reliable and experienced player in Diego Carlos. I’m not going to say Aston Villa have a better defence than Arsenal, or any top four top five team like that, but they do have excellent depth.
But enough on the future- look at the present at time of writing. At time of writing, Aston Villa sit fourth in the Premier League table, scoring 43 goals, the fourth best tally in the league. Despite a couple of poor results against Nottingham Forest and an embarrassing Cup exit to Everton, Aston Villa continue to entertain, especially with the likes of Diaby, Watkins and Douglas Luiz.
I believe if Aston Villa can sustain form in the Premier League while they adventure through the conference league, then they could be looking at a top six position here. Though I do believe in the second half of the season Newcastle United and Brighton will pick up more form and really push for those positions, in the top four especially, in those Europa League spots they might find it more difficult to keep going in the conference league and fight for a top seven finish. But currently, Aston Villa are doing all the right things under a very entertaining and pleasing team to watch.
I’d like to highlight a couple of players now that I believe are really stepped up their game this year and our proving to the rest of the league that they deserve to be started in their respective teams weaken weak out. I’d like to start by talking about Taiwo Awoniyi at Nottingham Forest. Despite the likes of Chris Wood, Divock Origi , Andre Ayew, Emmanuel Dennis, Sam Surridge, lyle Taylor, and Brennan Johnson all being striker options for Forest in the last 16 months, I believe in the past seven months Awoniyi has really cemented himself as the striker to play week in week out for Nuno Espiritio Santo. His goal return has significantly improved in this time, playing a vital role in Forest staying up last year. He’s also looked impressive this year, not only putting up four goals in 11 games at time of writing, but also improving in other areas of its game like hold it play and progressive passing. The front free of Awoniyi, Gibbs-white and Elanga could establish themselves as a really solid mid-table frontline in the next few years (especially given their age) if Forest can establish themselves as a solid mid-table team in the next few years also.
Perhaps in another universe, Awoniyi would have got his work permit and would have been given a chance at Liverpool. Nonetheless, Awoniyi is in the Premier League now, and despite the fates of previous strikers I mentioned before for Forest, and the probable fate of some other names on there, I do not see him being kicked out of Forest in the foreseeable future.
Another player I wish to highlight for his exceedingly good performance is the season in claret and blue is James Ward-Prowse. Ward-Prowse and this system that Moyes plays with at West Ham seems to be a match made in heaven. To be honest, I cannot believe this transfer did not happen sooner. Though it has only really been highlighted by most in the last two to three years, West Ham have always been good with set pieces under David Moyes, even in the first years of his reign of West Ham manager when the club looked in the mid table. However, despite his age, Ward-Prowse runs every game for West Ham from the heart of that midfield. Though they both only joined this summer, he already seems to have a great bond and understanding on the pitch with Edson Alvarez. The blend there with Paqueta also in midfield creates a really interesting and effective midfield for West Ham. Though there is a lot of discussion around Paqueta and the performances and numbers he has put up so far for West Ham, especially given not only the high price he came in for and the amount of money he was potentially going to go to Man City for in the summer, I believe West Ham will soon get the best out of him and we will be able to talk about that midfield three as one of the best in the league. Alvarez has dominated the six position, working hard and putting in important challenges every match much like Soucek did in 2020 and 2021. But really what keeps that midfield ticking is Ward-Prowse.
Everybody knows his ability on the ball from a set piece, and for me is top five greatest set piece takers in the Premier League ever. There’s a reason he’s a ability with a deadball gets compared to the likes of David Beckham, who for me is still number one. But his other skills that help him Run the game for West Ham often do not get spoken about enough.
We’re all obviously aware of the commentary surrounding Ward-Prowse and Gareth Southgate’s stubbornness comes to selecting Ward-Prowse in England squad however, no matter how well Jordan Henderson or Kalvin Phillips do in the second half of the season, if Ward-Prowse continues to play like this he will surely be a fixture in next summer’s euro squad in Germany.
After singing the praises of a few, I’d like to move on to a few teams and players quite haven’t been on the mark this season. Some of them are no fault of their own but we’ll definitely feel their head will be turned from the January window.
The first player I’d like to highlight is Aaron Ramsdale. I believe Ramsdale is an incredibly talented goalkeeper, and deserves to be a starter week in, week out at an elite team. However, this season Spanish stopper David Raya has kept his number of starts low. If only Arsenal could have a perfect blend of the two goalkeepers they have now.
I believe if you’re judging off of goalkeeping ability in general and the type of attributes that we look for a traditional goalkeeper in terms of shot stopping, aerial dominance and command of a box, then Ramsdale is better at Raya than all of these. However, Arteta clearly wants a more modern goalkeeper that is able to do these things well but most importantly be able to play with their feet and play out from the back efficiently, not only utilising the fullbacks and unleashing them down their respective flanks but also being able to distribute wide and far to reach the likes of Martinelli and Saka for example.
I think a really interesting idea for a move away from Ramsdale would be to a team like Bayern Munich. Of course, Manuel Neuer is not getting any younger, and recurring injuries maybe a problem for him throughout the rest of this season (and seasons to come). Next summer, or perhaps even in January, Bayern Munich may look to return to the Premier League for their business and look at our own Ramsdale as the next number one in goal for them. Of course, they know that regardless of his injury record, Manuel Neuer was never gonna last forever in goal. Aaron Ramsdale could be a really solid choice in between the sticks for Thomas Tuchel.
For me, regardless of the minutes he’s getting a season (or the lack of), Ramsdale is still one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. At just 25 years old, he’s still got many years left in him if he stays healthy and gets the game time he deserves at a top level club.
I’d now like to turn the attention away from an individual player I talk about a group of players, though the team I’m about to talk about is much more than just a team of underperforming players. I’d like to offer my two pence on the situation at Manchester United Football Club.
There’s been a really interesting debate around who has been the better of two underperforming big 6 in the Premier League this season between Manchester United and Chelsea. Though the problems around Chelsea are obvious and spoken about enough, fundamentally they do have a good vision and I believe sufficient players to carry out the vision that Pochettino has laid out, and we’ll only get better when more players become fit when Nkunku returns to the team and if they can truly unlock the powers of Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo. For me, Chelsea have a clear path to becoming better- this is not the case at Manchester United.
Ten Hag seemed to have the goalkeeper that he wanted- someone who is a modern goalkeeper, and can play with his feet as well as being a great shot stopper and fulfilling not only the traditional role of a goalkeeper but that of a modern one also. But Andre Onana has not lived up to this expectation so far. Despite good moments like the last minute penalty save against Copenhagen in the Champions League, Onana has not looked all that Man United fans may him out to be when they signed him. The same can be said for Ambrabat, who is struggling to reach the pace of the Premier League much like other midfielders coming from Italy have in the past few years despite their technical ability, for example Western McKennie at Leeds last year.
Manchester United look slow and lethargic in attack, look out of ideas in midfield and have lost that defensive vigour that Manchester United teams and defences of the past have held. The amount of deadwood at the club that many refuse to accept is obvious.
As well as the failings on the pitch, off the pitch Ten Hag has been getting a lot wrong. For me, the biggest shambles has been the handling of Jadon Sancho. It is obvious that Sancho is not perfect, and clearly has some attitude problems lingering under the surface, but I truly believe that any competent manager here who knows how to work with not only football players but be able to work with human beings can see that Jadon Sancho has just needed an arm around his shoulder, some good playtime and some encouragement most importantly to get the best out of him and return him to the form that we have seen at Borussia Dortmund in recent times.
Not only has he frozen at him out of the club, but it’s extent of how this whole situation has been carried out. There are reports that not only does he train alone, but that he has to get changed in the toilet at the Trafford training centre, and having to eat his lunch brought to him in a lunch box due to a ban from the canteen. This is bizarre, and is a horrific mistreatment of a young man especially one as talented as Sancho. While it is hard to dispute that he would be the answer to Manchester United’s prayers at this point in time, he definitely deserves to be playing first team football somewhere and will hopefully flourish and return to form back at Dortmund in the second half of this season.
And need I say anything about the glazers? Manchester United fans will always love to moan about their ownership situation despite their investment under Eric Ten Hag. It must be said though that if Manchester United are to move on and improve as a football club it is obvious they will not be able to do this under the ownership of the glazers. As well as this, major improvements are needed at the stadium, and have long been needed at their training ground which of course Cristiano Ronaldo reported on in November 2022.
Though rival clubs will love to see Manchester United in such a state of disarray the likes of which many of us will have never seen in our lifetimes, from a footballing perspective it can be said that it is a shame to see such a giant of football be in such a dire state where changes are needed from top to bottom in the entire club and no easy fixes available to them.
And finally, I’d like to discuss the failings up until this point of Vincent Kompany’s Burnley team in the Premier League so far. Last year, Burnley played some fantastic football in the championship despite the general level of the league not being great. They played disciplined defensive football -which you would expect when Vincent Kompany is your manager- but they also played very impressive attacking football, looking free flowing and confident in almost every game that they played.
Unfortunately though, this has not translated to the Premier League and if Burnley are to stand any chance of staying up, Kompany will need to move away from such a focus on maintaining the identity of their team and focus on putting in good general performances and getting some results. While they have been many cases in the past ten years of teams being able to come up to the Premier League and use their brand of football to take the league by storm not only surviving relegation but pushing up into the top 10- especially in wolves’ case in 2019 achieving a seventh place finish- it doesn’t feel like this will be the same fate for Burnley. While some players have been impressing, for example I believe Koleosho is the shining star of this current Burnley side, they need to stop trying to force Kompany’s brand of football to work and start focusing on results.
While it is great for Kompany to come away from every game saying we performed well but the result just didn’t go our way and for people just say that Kompany’s brand a football is entertaining, at the end of the day it’s results that keep you in the Premier League and not performances. If Kompany continues to be stubborn in this way and doesn’t realise that it is results that keep you in the league and not performances, then it might be too little too late for Burnley to survive in the Premier League this year.
I think it could be really interesting to suggest that Kompany’s managerial career could see him be a ‘great big fish in a small pond’ manager. We’ve seen him do really well at Anderlecht at the start of his managerial career, and as mentioned he had an electric Burnley team last year, completely revolutionising the Burnley team that we have seen in the Premier League for the past eight years or so. However, if his brand of football is not going to work in the Premier League with Burnley which could mean he will not succeed Guardiola at Manchester City, and then potentially I could see him doing well in smaller leagues around Europe, building great sides with great players playing great football and achieving a great amount of success. Potentially being a manager in Portugal, the Netherlands, or maybe even France.
But for now, Kompany’s Burnley team sit second bottom of the Premier League and despite some impressive performances still lack the results to see them outside of the relegation zone.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this alternative insight to some elements of the Premier League season we’ve seen so far. Stay tuned to ko2ft for more articles from yours truly and I hope to see you all very soon.
All the best everyone.
