Premier League Roundup – Gameweek 1
August 17, 2021
By Shivam PathakBlink, and you miss it.
The opening weekend of the 2021-22 Premier League was raucous, energetic and not devoid of personality.
Firstly, the elephant in the room. Fans. Lots of them. All of them, in fact. The appetite was insatiable – with hardly an empty seat in sight. From Carrow Road to Old Trafford, the noise was through the roof. Away days were finally back on the menu, and there were TikTok and Twitter videos aplenty of supporters revelling in the long train trips, early pints and tall staircases to reach the visiting fans’ stands.
This Brentford fan crying tears of joy after the game is too much for me this Friday evening 😢 pic.twitter.com/5u71SQEOgA
— TrailerHub Gaming (@Trailerhubtweet) August 13, 2021
Sports editors must have been rubbing their hands in glee on Friday night. The remarkable stat that dominated the papers was Brentford’s 74 year absence from the Premier League – strutting back in, with a full crowd in tow, to take all three points off Arsenal without conceding, raising the decibels and making them the first team to go top this season.
Their reign, however, was short-lived, as Manchester United flexed their muscle on Saturday afternoon. Starting with the presentation of Raphael Varane, in what was probably one of the best PR moves in recent PL transfer history, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men tore apart their classical rivals, Leeds United.
Paul Pogba made Graeme Souness, in generous terms, look like a bit of a fool. We all know about his agenda. He said that the Frenchman’s price tag should mean that “we expect” the performance he provided, one in which he returned four assists – something that has now only been recorded seven times in Premier League history. With elegance, poise and a silky, deft touch, Pogba linked up telepathically with Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Fred to join a highly exclusive club – the previous inductee being Harry Kane, when he set up all four of Son Heung-Min’s finishes away to Southampton last year.
Souness 🗣 “For me, the star of the show was Greenwood.”
Micah 🗣 “Pogba’s had four assists.”
Souness 🗣 “We expect that from a 100 million pound man.”@MicahRichards not allowing Graeme Souness to forget Paul Pogba’s performance against Leeds United pic.twitter.com/IvRPkHo6ir
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 15, 2021
You don’t need me to tell you that Kane and Son were one of the major talking points of the week in their own right. The headlines wrote themselves – and indeed, a jam-packed White Hart Lane sang “Are you watching, Harry Kane?”, in a victory that added another twist to this transfer saga: if you can call it that.
It’s been tight-lipped; a battle of wits. Guardiola, in his defeat, would have been yearning for the forward, as his side generated tactical ideas for fun. But it lacked that final piece. The killer instinct. The number nine to tie things up. If anything, Levy’s negotiating position only grew stronger on Sunday evening, as his side held valiantly. The young Japhet Tanganga came back into the side to strengthen the defensive outpost, helping to create counterplay that was finished off by the South Korean captain. Nuno Espirito Santo endeared himself to the N17 faithful, while Pep was left flustered. We’re left with 13 days of the transfer window, and a position akin to that of a chess game between two great masters.
Japhet Tanganga v Manchester City – 15/08/21. pic.twitter.com/aV1cmeJLLK
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 17, 2021
Elsewhere, there was no shortage of goals – and there was no draw on the opening weekend. Chelsea delivered against Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace side, while Watford resisted a late fightback from the new Jack Grealish-less Aston Villa to treat Vicarage Road to a thrilling victory. And of course, Mohamed Salah did his thing. I could go through each and every game, but there is no real need. Match of the Day is now on iPlayer.
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Let’s not forget that Romelu Lukaku is still to come, and there’s plenty of time for deals to get done. Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel will have both been delighted with what they saw with their team’s first displays, with Virgil van Dijk and Trevor Chalobah both impressing on opposite sides of the seniority spectrum – the latter scoring a stunner.
What was most refreshing was the VAR interventions last weekend – or, to be specific, the lack thereof. We saw the new ‘adjusted’ offside rule in action for the first time, as Bruno Fernandes’ hat-trick goal was allowed to stand. With thicker lines, we may be minimising time ascertaining whether or a player’s armpit was 0.005 inches ahead of the heel of the defender’s Nike Tiempo, and more enjoying the flow of the match.
Opening weekends come with a certain swagger, optimism and vigour, something we weren’t let down this year – reinforced by the return of supporters, all of Manchester City’s title rivals impressed, while they stuttered; while two of the three promoted sides came out with victory. While I’m not one to jump to conclusions, there was a template for enjoyment between Friday and Sunday. There’s plenty yet to be determined about the state of play, but more than enough opening signs that we are in for a ride this season.
This article was written by Shivam Pathak. To check out their other work click here or you can leave them a comment below.
