Season preview part two: The relegation dogfight... and can Man United be any worse?

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1:54The Athletic FC.

2:02Totally Football Show. Today, we're talking Super Cup surprises. Spurs looking special on set pieces, less on spot kicks. Plus, Premier League preview part two. The mouth-watering return of the Mackhams and Everton's old-school new look. Why we're less excited about Man United. And most of all, which letter will have fewer Premier League sides beginning with it in nine months' time. B &W, both strong contenders there. All that and more in this Totally Football Show.

2:35Thursday, the 14th of August. Only got about 24 hours of summer left, everyone. Because Liverpool-Bourmouth is kicking off tomorrow night as we record. I say we. We've got Daniel's story of the eye joining us again. Hello, Daniel. Hello, James. Ooh, bit of a delay there, Daniel. I hope you can keep up because it's going to be a fast-paced show as we hear from Tim Spears. All right, Tim. Hi, James. All right. You're back and summer's very much not about to be over for you, is it? No. Well, the summer's not really a thing anymore. You know, when the Women's Euros finishes on July the 27th. All right.

3:09Do you know what I mean? No, I do. But no, yeah, I've got my big festivals still to come. Nice. So I'll be gearing towards that for some time. Okay. If you're going to Victorious, just outside of Portsmouth, is it? In Portsmouth? In and around. In and around Portsmouth. Maybe you'll catch him as a bit then. You'll be a lucky person if you do. Tom Williams, you've got big summer plans still outstanding? Hello, James. No. I mean, the summer is over. I hate to shock people. I keep asking people, how was your summer? And for people who aren't football journalists, they're slightly offended by the suggestion that I'm calling time on summer when there are still technically at least two weeks to go.

3:45Yeah, it's not autumn until... It's football season now. Time for summer plans has been and gone. What will be your drab and generic greeting once the whole summer question is put to bed? Will it be a how? Any plans for autumn? Or what do you go with next? I haven't really got that far. I'm assuming that everyone's just going to be as heavily involved in watching all the football as me. So you don't really have to think of it. I mean, who needs a social life when there's all this football on? Not me. There is a lot of football on, Tom, and it all starts Friday night. And today we're here to talk about the rest of the Premier League.

4:18Check on the promoted sides. Can they finish higher than Man United? all those kind of questions what's going to react to that remarkable game played Wednesday night in Udine the European Super Cup Spurs against PSG get some L 'Equipe player ratings maybe hey Tom in a second or two I noticed that the Athletic has now published its Hopometer if you listen to Tuesday's first part of our Premier League preview we were talking about Newcastle fans being the most pessimistic which they are by a country mile in the Premier League. The team on the top, I now read, are Chelsea. They have the most optimistic fans of any of the 20 sides.

4:58Behind them, Liverpool, which I guess makes sense, Brighton, because I guess they live in Brighton, and then at fourth place, Sunderland. Sunderland, 91 % optimistic. Are they right? They're also ahead of Man United, who are in fifth. Are they right? 86 % optimistic. Man United fans, these are big questions that maybe we'll be, well, we'll certainly be trying to address in the course of today's show. We'll also be talking about other sides like Wolves and West Ham who are kind of down there stroke up there with Newcastle fans in terms of pessimism. We have one here in the studio, Tim. Yeah. How are you feeling?

5:38Not very optimistic at all, really. It's the least excited I've been about season for 10 years. Really? Yeah. I like the fact you can quantify that exactly. What happened 10 years ago? Sort of middle of the road championship. Steve Morgan was about to sell the club a year before sort of folks came in. We were just treading water. Treading water and that's what's happening now. Would you take treading water this season? Yeah, I think that's what the club are aiming for. Right. Daniel, how optimistic are you? Did we get that from you on Tuesday? I don't think we did. About Forest, this is. I think even neutrals would say Forrester may be the hardest team to pick this season in terms of where they'll finish, which ironically means everyone picks them to finish 12th because they don't really know.

6:24Fans will be happy with 15th and a really good European run. I'm not sure whether Mr Maranakis would be quite on board with that. So there's potential for it to blow up and there's potential for Forrester to sign loads of players between now and the end of August and be the 8th or 9th best team in the country, but it could be anywhere. OK, fantastic. More of that kind of thing as we preview all the teams we didn't do on Tuesday, i.e. not the title contenders. But we're going to start with events in Oudene. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network.

7:17Nuno Mendes capping off a 4-3 penalty win after a 2-2 draw in the European Super Cup, which took place Wednesday night at the Stadio Friuli in Oudine. An evening of surprise is this. Firstly, because I've forgotten entirely about Richarlison. He popped up. Secondly, because his new teammate Mo Qudis and Spurs in general, in their first proper game under Thomas Frank, had Champions League winners PSG absolutely on the ropes for 85 minutes. They didn't get the title and they're probably not that bothered because it's the European Super Cup. But so many positives to take away from this performance.

7:59Yeah, I mean, loads and loads of positives. I think the fact that Thomas Frank has made the defence better organised with a lower defensive line and better at both defending and attacking set pieces is of absolutely no surprise to anyone. But it was pronounced how quickly that's happened. The way they slowed down the game, the way that they took their time over set pieces, the way that they seemed to manage the situation pretty well until the final 10 minutes was really impressive and will serve them well. I think the game basically changed because, well I think Frank got his substitutions wrong in that he brought off the players who seemed to have the most energy in Kudus and Paulina and Richarlison maybe that suggests the lack of squad depth that he will look to address or persuade Spurs to address over the next couple of weeks but yeah it was it was it was really good I mean Tottenham looked like a sensible football team tactically again which I think is certainly what they're crying out for I think maybe the sort of million dollar question of this season is how quickly or how much that's a complete antidote to last season for better and sometimes for worse in terms of excitement and fans kind of getting on board with this weird roller coaster train of of Anjapostokoglu but for now it's the thing that makes the most sense for Spurs all right there will be those who observing the fact that they were 2-0 up against Champions League winners PSG until the 85th minute and then blew it will be You're reaching for the word Spursy, Tim.

9:32Yeah, but so much has changed, like Daniel said. The fact that Thomas Frank had a game plan for one specific match, I know Poster Coglu sort of did do that a bit towards the end of the season, but otherwise Poster Coglu had a plan for the season and didn't bother with tactics. So to see Frank, obviously with sort of 3-5-2, set pieces, Daniel says, the breaks, utilising the wing-backs, I thought were pretty good. And yeah, the subs were an issue. I mean, Tell's contribution was pretty much as bad as it gets. The numbers back that up, which are eight touches, lost possession four times, no shots, gave two fouls away, completed 0 out of three dribbles and won 0 out of four ground duels.

10:11And his penalty. And then his penalty, but he did win one header. So, you know, swings and roundabouts. But otherwise, I thought, yeah, if those subs had started the game, then maybe we would have seen a different result because none of them really contributed too much. But obviously, yeah, far more positives than negatives for Spurs. Paris Saint-Auburn breaking their losing streak against London clubs, which must be a relief. They didn't look themselves, Tom. Was that because they've only just come back from their summer break or what? What was Laquipe saying about all this? Yeah, I think there's a recognition that Tottenham played very well.

10:50And as Daniel and Tim were saying, set their stall out very well. clogged up the middle of the pitch, blocked PSG's full-backs from getting forward with the wing-backs. But I think the main feeling in France was that PSG looked like a team playing their first pre-season game, which is exactly what they were. They had a handful of days off after the end of last season, flew straight out to the States for the Club World Cup, made it all the way to the final, playing with pretty much the same starting XI in almost every game. then had three weeks holiday, and now they're back. They've had no pre-season.

11:28They've had one week of training. And you could see that. I think in the first half in particular, the snap in the tackle that we came to associate with PSG last season wasn't there. The technical fluidity, the confidence on the ball, a number of technical errors. They were miles off the levels that they hit last season and at times in the Club World Cup. and on top of that, the brand new goalkeeper basically chucks one in his own net early in the second half. So the fact that they managed to equalise late in the game, I think the substitutes made a huge impact. Lee Kangin obviously got the first goal, Gonzalo Ramos with the equaliser in stoppage time.

12:11It felt like the changes that their entrances prompted were also beneficial with Ousmane Dembele going out to the right and then they win their penalty shootout. And this is a trophy that no other French club have ever won. You know, last time PSG played in the European Super Cup, they lost 9-2 on aggregate to Juventus in January 1997. So although we tend to... What's that? On aggregate. On aggregate. I don't remember it being a two-legged affair. It was. It was for a while, back in the day. Before that, I think they moved it to Monaco the year after and it became a one-off game. and PSG are a club who don't have great European pedigree so winning a trophy like this is meaningful and also I think had they lost off the back of losing against Chelsea in the Club World Cup final would have been a pretty underwhelming start to the new season so a lot of relief as well Next season the Super Cup will be an eight-team affair played in Saudi Double-legged ties To be fair, that's exactly what the Spanish and the Italians have done with their domestic Super Cup It was not eight, but four teams.

13:19But I mean, yeah, mad as isn't it? Donnarumma, Tom? How much did that dominate? I mean, certainly the build-up to the game seemed to be totally dominated by, to what to most people is a pretty harsh bit of truth-telling by Luis Enrique to his Champions League hero goalkeeper. Yeah, I mean, and the fact that he wasn't even in the squad, you know, this divorce, which has been on the cards for a little while. I mean, you go back to the middle of last season And the reporting was that there was a bit of an impasse in the contract talks between Donnarumma and PSG. They wanted to offer him a different kind of contract with a lower fixed salary element and, you know, more opportunity for making up the difference with bonuses.

14:07So there was already a bit of a standoff. We know that Luis Enrique, you know, didn't ever really fancy him as a goalkeeper. Lucas Chevalier ticks a lot more of the boxes, primarily in terms of being a lot better with the ball at his feet. But, you know, Donnarumma was one of the heroes of last season. I mean, you take Donnarumma out of, you know, that Champions League campaign, PSG do not, you probably don't even get to the quarterfinals. I mean, he was so instrumental, is, I think, a shoo-in for the Levy Aschin trophy as the best goalkeeper in the world, and yet finds himself being binned off.

14:39Are they going to regret that this season, do you think, Tom? I mean, it depends how quickly Chevalier finds his feet. And his, you know, development so far has been extremely linear. He's a very cool-headed, very unflappable goalkeeper who tends not to make many mistakes. It's kind of unfortunate that he did make a fairly glaring mistake in his first game. But I think as long as he's able to handle all the, you know, all the attention, he should enable PSG to play even more of the kind of football that Luis Enrique wants to see. Obviously, if he does struggle at all, then the decision to bin off Donnarumma is going to be pulled over.

15:20Coming back to haunt Luis Enrique. Vicario, from Thomas Frank's point of view, absolutely instrumental in then certainly taking the lead. I think he'll be pretty happy with his Italian keeper's performance in this game. Broadly, Daniel, I don't know if you saw the previous Spurs outing in pre-season terms when they got absolutely canned 4-0 by Bayern Munich. So one hesitates perhaps to celebrate too much over Wednesday's performance. But were you feeling a lot more optimistic about Tottenham's prospects this season after this? Yeah, I was. I do think that, I think inevitably at Tottenham, some things will change instantly, which is the organisation of defence, which is the use of wing-backs.

16:04I think Vicario's distribution to those wing-backs, the kind of diagonal ball that for the wing back on running looks really good there will be occasions when that football is frustrating for supporters I think you know I'm talking about home games against low-line defences of which they might well almost certainly will face one this weekend in Burnley that's where we work out whether there's enough creativity in the final third with this setup or whether it just leads to players feeling they have to over commit and getting caught on the counter? That's the big question. Frank's obviously got lots of time on his side.

16:42I don't think we're looking at a Nuno situation where it'll go badly wrong very quickly because I think he's savvy enough to see the quick improvements to be made. I don't think Spurs will finish in the top five or six this season, but then I don't think for a team that finished 17th and has Champions League to deal with, I don't think that's a realistic prospect anyway. So as long as everybody is engaged with that incremental process, I think it's fine. Fair enough. One last thing on this from me, which is, is he going to be joining Spurs? Where are we with that? I think they're waiting for, he's waiting for Arsenal to come in, isn't he?

17:15Is he? By all accounts. I wasn't sure if Tottenham had gazumped the Gunners. Well, I think they've got, he's got a release clause which Spurs apparently aren't willing to reach at the moment, which is very, which is very Daniel Levy. Right. I think he'd be a great addition. It's just what they need in the post sort of Madison era and with Kulusevsky still out. and just have to mention, I think, one of the worst penalties that I've ever seen from Vitinha, which just in the technique that he utilised, kind of that sort of haunched, sticking his arse out and sort of shuffling towards the ball and then Vicario goes the other way, but he still puts it wide of the far post.

17:55It's just, what play is he trying to achieve now? I don't know, because Mataz Tells was in some ways similar in that he took a long run up, stuttered a couple of times, got the goalkeeper going the other way and then put it wide himself. Yeah, no, exactly. But you do see that a little bit, the sort of stutter run up. But Vittini was just sort of, you know, it reminded me of when you've been on a long drive, like three hours, maybe four, and then you get to a motorway service station and you sort of, you know, creak out of the car and then there's that sort of stunted walk to the service station where you can't quite stand up properly and your joints are all sort of discombobulated.

18:37That's what he was moving like. What's the point of that? What's that got to do with penalties? Don't know. See, I mean, the thing is, those penalties, when they work, they're brilliant because they're unsavable. When they don't work, you look V foolish indeed. Thin line. A thin line. Yeah. Anyway, there you go. That was the European Super Cup, which ultimately probably doesn't matter that much. Also midweek, there was other European action actually there was Champions League third qualifying round just mentioned briefly that Benfica knocked out Nice, Bruges put out RB Salzburg and Jose Mourinho's Furnabache staged a rousing comeback in their tie with Feyenoord putting the Dutch side out after losing the first leg 2-1 they came back and beat them 5-2 Archie Brown who knows about Archie Brown he got a goal and two assists in this game young Englishman for or Mourinho's side.

19:32There you go. Next week, Fenerbahce will be hosting Benfica in the playoffs to get to the actual Champions League League, while Celtic will be up against Kairat, who are the number one team in Kazakhstan, I'll have you know. I was not familiar with their work before this week. Bruges will be visiting Rangers. Yeah. Anyway, next up, let's get on to the thing that we actually came in today to do, which is Premier League previewing. first off, it's those promoted sides.

20:07Accenture is working together with the NFL to drive international growth by evaluating markets, developing audience insights, and creating new ways to engage fans in cities around the world. The NFL is building a global game, and Accenture is helping make that vision a reality by striking the right balance between what makes the NFL beloved in America and tapping into the passions and preferences that make each market unique. Accenture, the official business and technology consulting partner of the NFL. Learn more at accenture.com slash NFL. You're probably multitasking right now, right? Commuting, working out, crossing things off your list.

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22:18This is the Totally Football Show. part of the Athletic FC podcast network. The Athletic is the only place you can read articles by Daniel Taylor, Amy Lawrence, Phil Hay, James Pearce, Olly Kaye and the very best football writers around. Brand new season. Everyone's very excited, including Tim. And part of the reason for that is three new sides to play with. Sunderland have been away, frankly, too long. Burnley, perhaps not been away long enough. And Leeds, who've had a couple of seasons out of the top flight. what's it going to be like for them this season? Is it going to be another case to straight back down?

22:54We shall see. Robin writes in, Robin says, the promoter trio look stronger than usual and have done some good business so far. Leeds and Sunderland have genuine quality in midfield with Tanaka, Stach, Lefeuille and Diarra. So should stay up well. Leeds and Burnie, you recall, last season in the Championship, both got 100 points and both have managers who've blown up previously in the Premier League. But it is the playoff winners, Sunderland, who really, I think, grabbed everyone's attention, not least thanks to their massive summer of transfer spending. Chris Weatherspoon is a Macam and the Athletics football finance writer, so he's ideally placed, really, to tell us what the Black Cats have been up to.

23:34And he joins us now. Chris, hello. Hi, James. How are you doing? Very well. Thank you so much. Chris, first off, was it eight years since you were last in the Premier League? I bet it feels longer as well. Yes, eight very long years. Yes, that's right. Yeah, we've... You know, like, it's kind of... There's clubs... There's always someone worse off. But it isn't an exaggeration to say that the four-year spell in the midst of that eight years was the worst spell in Sutherland's history. They'd only ever spent one year outside of the top two divisions in their history before that, and then they spent four in a row.

24:13So, yes, it's been a bit of a whirl. really because it was we were down in the depths it felt like we were perhaps never getting out and then we've kind of zoomed through we've kind of waved bye-bye to everyone in the championship very quickly but whereas you see a lot of teams get stuck there and it's i would be remiss as a football finance writer not to say it's a disaster financially if you get stuck in the championship so we've we've done quite well to get in and out within three years well you must have seen some things down there some some dark days but eight years on here you are back in the premier league after securing promotion in very dramatic style at Wembley.

24:49And we were hearing before, Sunderland fans really, really positive about your prospects this season. Are they right to be? Yeah, I think so. Well, I guess the caveat is that any promoted team, there's probably a limit to how much optimism you can have. I think the kind of refreshing thing is that the business, the club have done this. Basically, they're not going to die wondering. You know, they haven't come up and they're not just going to be there to make the numbers up now. You know, it may well be the case that they don't do that well. We don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think it will be for the one to try.

25:23And which, you know, that's kind of all you can ask for, really. And I think it's probably the positive element of it and the surprise. It has been that element of surprise because actually in order to get promoted, they haven't really spent that much money. you know like the team that played at Wembley I think the team that started when we cost less than 10 million pounds to assemble whereas now obviously they've gone way beyond that they're I think they're at about 125 million now and that's without any like future add-ons and stuff so so yeah so I I think there's there's a lot of optimism there's a lot of because everyone knew you know like as euphoric as that last minute playoff final winner was I think when the dust settled it was kind of oh let's let's not think about next season for a little while because it's going to be really difficult so everyone knew that there was a lot of work to be done it's been kind of refreshing that actually they've done it in a way that's stayed true to what got them here they've spent money on granite shaka and they've spent money on a new center half who's 28 years old but other than that it's all been on young players which is what they'd spent money on previously so they kind of they've ramped up how much they're spending but they've also stayed true to what they were doing previously.

26:37So I think, yeah, I think cautious optimism. OK. How did Granit Xhaka come about? Who convinced him to head to the Stadium of Light? It depends who you believe, really. I think the ownership and the football hierarchy at the club kind of have a vision about how they want to do things and how they want to play. And I get the feeling with Xhaka that they've probably pitched it as, look like you can come and you'll be in a really significant like leadership position like actually just this this morning Thursday morning they've announced him as the new captain which is a bit of a kick in the teeth for uh the last captain who who did a pretty good job and got got them promoted but yes so I think they've really he's kind of like he's the fulcrum he's going to be the guy who everyone looks to um both on and off the pitch and I and I think um anything we know about Granite Jagger is he likes a challenge, both literally and metaphorically.

27:34And I think he's going to get both on the rear side. Excellent. Of the other side, what, are there 10 new players so far? Robin Roofs, if that's how to pronounce, the new goalkeeper who's highly rated. Simon Odingera from Brighton, who sounds very exciting. Mark Gouy from Chelsea. Tom, somebody you might be able to tell us a bit more about, Habib Diara from Strasbourg, who's going to line up possibly alongside Granit in what looks like a pretty excellent midfield. Yeah, very exciting, very attack-minded number eight, I suppose. Someone who carries the ball really well. He tends to pick it up in deep positions and kind of power into opposition territory.

28:15He's got an eye for goal, scored one of the goals for Senegal against England. And, I mean, like a lot of the players at Strasbourg, looked like he was destined for bigger and better things and looks like the kind of player who is well suited to Premier League football. Magnificent. All right, so loads of positives. What's the big fear then, Chris? Doing a Southampton. Is that the vernacular? Yeah, I think the concern really is actually something of pretty favourable opening fixtures, as favourable as you could hope to get as a promote side. Right, West Ham this weekend. Yeah, so they've got West Ham, then they've got Burnley, then they've got Brentford, then they've got Palace.

28:54and I know Palace obviously haven't really spent anything yet, but they're obviously still a good side. But they've got the opportunity to get some points on the board early, which I think is pretty key. I mean, having watched several sudden relegation seasons in the past, they've all had the theme of not really winning any of the opening games. And I think the problem this time around is if that happens, it's just a big opportunity passed up. They've got a really horrible kind of November, December. It's not going to be very festive on the side, I don't think. They've got horrible run of fixtures around then.

29:25So they need to get points on the board early. So I think the concern is, you know, if they don't hit the ground running. Now, obviously, they've been very active. They've signed 11 players already. OK, a couple have only just come in in the last week or so. But they have had time to mould quite a few of them. And I think they had to move quickly. Not least because, obviously, they were the last team to get promoted. So they had a shorter window anyway. But I think that probably feeds into the positivity thing in that they appear to have had a clear plan. and they've gone and acted on it but i get i do think the concern is they need they need to hit the ground running early um because yeah it's i mean we've seen it we've seen it with promote clubs in the last couple of years like once you get behind it's very very difficult to catch up all right one of those one of those december fixtures because the the visit of newcastle to the stadium of light woof you're looking forward to that one chris I'm not too sure about that See I've got quite a lot of Newcastle Supporting friends for my sins We always get back together at Christmas We might have to postpone that one this year We'll see how it goes Magnificent Chris thank you so much for joining us And look forward to seeing how Sunderland get on this weekend At home to West Ham Magnificent

30:43Chris Weatherspoon Sunderland fan for his sins I don't think it was for his sins was it? No it was Newcastle United No that's so true Newcastle United Sporting Friends for his sins which is an interesting new take It's language it's evolving on the playing on himself the popular football cliche Most French club in the Premier League Sunderland Tom is that right? With the ownership and the manager Reggie Libris Yes Reggie Libris and Kirill Louis-Dreyfus the 27 year old owner Madness. Multiple French players, multiple French speaking players. How is he at 27 years of age owning a Premier League club?

31:26Because he comes from a football club owning dynasty. He is the son of Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who was the owner of Marseille, and his wife Marguerite Louis-Dreyfus, who took over from her late husband as Marseille owner. So he's got it in his blood. Boom. Ousmane Dembele, one of Sunderland's many celebrity fans. Oh, yeah? Who is a friend of Kirill Louis-Dreyfus's and who has been seen at least once at the Stadium of Light and who sent them a congratulatory message after they won the playoff final. Brilliant. Brilliant. So you were going to say something quite different about them, perhaps about Regis Le Brice.

32:07I wasn't, but I can... He's not had much top-flight managerial experience. No, he hasn't. Yeah, and it was a punt. I mean, he carved out a very good reputation with Lorient in Ligue 1. They played very good football and had a lot of young players, but he got them relegated. And there was a bit of sneering in France. It was like, oh, yeah, well, he talks a good game and, you know, they knock it around nicely, but, you know, he's taken them down. Right. Then he gets picked up by Sunderland. At a time when... I love you using that PFM accent for French punditry. Is there a French... Is there a kind of Gaelic version of the PFM?

32:40There probably is, but I'm not sure I could do it while speaking English. All right, anyway. I'll work on it. On to your point. But yeah, him getting picked up by Sunderland felt like a bit of a punt by Sunderland in the first place. And also, you know, came at a time when there weren't many French coaches and there aren't many French coaches working at the highest levels of the European game. The only coaches in Europe's top four leagues this season will be Le Brice and Patrick Vieira at Genoa. But he made a really good impression at Sunderland really quickly. You know, spoke very good English, seemed to get on board with his players very quickly, got a lot of buy-in from them, was working with the youngest squad in the championship as well.

33:25So the kind of context he was used to working in made them very adaptable tactically, you know, so he's not kind of super dogmatic my way or the highway. Lots of kind of interesting and quite creative tactical tweaks from one match to the next. and flying the flag for French coaches at a time when there aren't many flag-bearing French coaches around. Excellent. They've sold 100 ,000 shirts, I was reading the other day. Have they? Yeah, according to The Athletic. That's impressive. So there's all this excitement about Sunderland and they have been away the longest of the three. Do they strike you, Daniel, as the likeliest of the promoted sides to have a good run?

34:07Or would you like to segue neatly onto the prospects for Leeds and Burnley, both of whom racked up 100 points last season in the Championship, but both, as I referenced before, come in with managers who crashed and burned in spectacular fashion last time each of them tried their hand at Premier League seasons? I think Sunderland are the unknown quantity, which in three weeks may make them the most likely stay up or in three weeks might make them the least. The concern is the same concerns I have for Leeds and Burnley, which is I just don't see where the goals are going to come from. If you look at the three squads as it stands, as we record, top scorer from last season at any club, but each of the promoted clubs are Joel Pirro for Leeds, Zian Fleming for Burnley and Wilson Isidore for Sunderland and Pirro got the most goals last season of those with 15 in the Championship I just don't see Burnley have signed Amanda Brogier Leeds have signed Dominic Calvert-Lewin Sunderland have signed Mark Guilherme I just don't see where the goals are going to come from so unless one or all or two of them are very good at sharing those goals around and get midfielders to chip in with at least seven or eight Premier League goals, then I think it's very hard for them to stay up because, statement of the obvious, the Premier League attacks are going to be a world above the Championship attacks they faced last season.

35:35In the case of Burnley, they conceded a ridiculous 16 goals in 46 Championship games last season, but that's just not going to happen this season. You are going to concede goals, probably history suggests a rate of at least 1.5 a game. I think the best defence of the promoted clubs in the last two years is Burnley's two years ago, and they conceded 70. So you're having to significantly improve that unless you're going to score 50 goals. And I just don't see at the moment... I know Leeds scored an absolute barrel load in the Championship, but Daniel James was Championship Player of the Year last year, and we've already seen him in the Premier League.

36:12He's exciting and he's good, and I think he has improved, but he also became quite easy to marshal. I just don't know where the goals are going to come from for many of them. Right. Very valid concern. As regards shipping lots of goals in the Premier League, of course, last time Parker was up at Bournemouth, he was famously in charge for that 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, although not for much longer afterwards. Parker as well owns the worst losing streak in managerial history in the Premier League. 16 defeats in a row, spread out admittedly over two seasons with Norwich. Your take, Tim? I think Leeds have got the best chance of staying up, but they've got a decent front three.

36:52But as Daniel says, it's Nonto and James either side of Perrault. So yeah, you sort of know what you're going to get. Just to kind of put Sunderland's task into context, we say Leeds and Burnley are obviously going to struggle to stay up despite getting 100 points last year. Well, Sunderland got 76 points, but they also only scored 58 goals last season. Leeds scored 95. If you only just reached halfway to 100 goals as a promoted team in the Championship. So to ask them to replicate the number of goals that they're going to need to stay up is such a huge ask. I mean, it's great to have them back.

37:27I think they'll be entertaining, Sunderland. They'll possibly be the sort of most entertaining team. They're very used to not having the ball. You know, 26 % in the possession in the playoff semis against Coventry away last season and they won that game. But I love, it's great to have Sunderland back as a sort of a spectacle and as a football fan. They sold out for the first game against West Ham in a day. They sold out all their season tickets, sold 100 ,000 shirts. They had the ninth highest attendances in the country last season in the Championship. They're just a great club to have back in.

37:56And if they can kind of channel that every game is an FA Cup final type thing and really have the crowd with them and enthusiasm is very high in Sunderland at the moment, then they will cause a few surprises. But once that sort of enthusiasm and momentum wears off. I don't see that they have the quality to stay up, unfortunately. It's a great line-up, I think, this season. Just across the board, three big historic northern clubs coming up from the Championship, redressing the north-south imbalance that we saw last season. The only thing that I find slightly problematic is I think there are too many teams whose name begins with a letter B.

38:32Yes. Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton and Burnley. what's the issue there Tom just too many spread it out a bit you know we haven't got any teams whose name begins with the letter you know well you can pick Daniel Daniel did you want to come in on that or perhaps come in with a letter Daniel come on I'll start with a number two more slightly negative points here first thing is I understand why people say Leeds and Burnley got 100 points in the championship but the last six teams to get 90 or more points in the championship have finished 19th 20th 19th 20th 18th 19th so it doesn't necessarily guarantee you're going to be any good in the Premier League unfortunately and I think the other thing is that the money spent is a really good thing but the money has changed the numbers have changed on money spent over last year Ipswich spent 110 million pounds last season on new players and it didn't actually make them a good enough team to stay up and I I think Kieran McKenna is an excellent coach.

39:33So the odds are still sacked against them. I'm really glad that fans are optimistic because the worst thing about the last couple of years is that some of those clubs who have come up have immediately felt like, we're not even going to really try, we're probably going to go down and we'll take the money. And that's a bit of a shame. I admire that there is optimism and that's definitely better than the alternative. But I hope it doesn't create an expectation because the odds are still so heavily sacked against those three. This is what pre-season previews are all about, isn't it? Killing optimism with stats.

40:03Kicking. Right. That's what we're here for. Looking forward to the season, all you guys. Let me give you seven different statistical reasons why you shouldn't be. Tom, on the subject of letters, I'm intrigued by DC and L, Dominic Galvitt-Lewin, and his arrival at Ellen Road on a free. Does that make sense somewhere? It makes sense in that he's Patrick Bamford's very obvious replacement in an injury-prone striker whose best years are behind him. Right. But otherwise... Okay. What about Kyle Walker at Burnley? Are you any happier with that one? Yeah, I think that's a really good addition. I mean, they've lost a couple of key players from their incredible defence last season.

40:42Obviously, James Trafford being one. Yeah, he's probably... Him and Xhaka are two really good additions for promoted teams. and I do like I think Burnley will do well to learn from their past two experiences of relegation which I think they have you know Sean Dyche was sort of that sort of brutal Dyche ball and then obviously Burnley was so open under company and Scott Parker has sort of taken or tried to take the best of those two they are defence first obviously but they do still play you know they play from the back they play decent football I think they'll probably be the most boring team to watch I've no excitement Do you remember his Fulham side?

41:21who set a record for least home goals in the Premier League. In the 2021 season, how many home goals did they have? Nine. Nine goals. That is some going. That is a real commitment to not entertain your season ticket holders. They won't stand for that in that big fancy and you stand this season. Yeah, absolutely. But he's luckily at Burnley, of course. What's your prediction then for the bottom three? Daniel? It will surprise absolutely nobody that I'm saying Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland, which I would say, and it plays into this idea of optimism. I think last year, everybody would have predicted the three to go down.

42:00I think this year there is, you know, I've seen people saying, well, Leeds are big, so they'll stay up or Sunderland and Spence, they'll stay up. I haven't seen so much about Burnley, but fine. I think there is a feeling that they can. I just don't think they will. OK, Tom. I'm going to say Burnley, Sunderland and West Ham United to go down. You looked at Tim as you were saying it. I thought you were going to go Wolves. And he started with a W as well. Yeah. That would have been a real heel move. Yeah, maybe you feel there are too many teams beginning with W in the Premier League and could there be one less at the end of this season, Tim?

42:32Well, I'm going to please Tom and get rid of a B. In fact, two Bs. Thank goodness. And the Bs. Because I think Brentford might go. Brentford down. And the other two? Burnley and Sunderland. Burnley and Sunderland. So Leeds staying up. Just parenthesis. Who was the team you had staying up? West Ham. No, sorry, you had West Ham going up. Oh, sorry. Leeds. Leeds staying up. I mean, the difficulty is, at this point in proceedings, James, it really is impossible to know. Guess what? We'll move on. It really is impossible to know. But I mean, I think one of the interesting things about the promoted teams, and particularly with regard to the two that came up automatically, Leeds and Burnley, is they did so in such contrasting fashion.

43:09One team that scores loads of goals in Leeds, and one team that concedes almost zero goals in Burnley, you tend to think that the team who are solid defensively will fare better than the team who are super attacking. But I just think Leeds, with the players they've signed, the size of the club, I mean, not that the size of the club actually counts for anything when it comes to putting points on the board. But yeah, Leeds to stay up. Okay, which could be in trouble for somebody else who's been hovering around the bottom end of the table. But who? We'll move on to some of those teams and whether they'll do better this time around as we continue and complete our Premier League preview after this.

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44:54Hey, I've got the campaign brief ready, built from last quarter's data and the competitive landscape. Approved? Oh, agents, where would we be without you? Somewhere with a lot more tabs open. Create your first Monday agent in minutes at monday.com.

45:15You're listening to The Totally Football Show with James Richardson. Now we do four times a week. Keep up to date with us on Insta and enjoy us in glorious Technicolor on YouTube at The Totally Show. Transfer news. How long have we got left? Two weeks for the transfer window? this week's hot stories are Liverpool closing in on young Parma defender Giovanni Leone young Lions pretty much means exciting that a lot of money, it's probably going to have gone through by the time you hear this list they're talking about I think 40 million euros for the 18 year old who's pretty much only played half a season in the top flight but had one extremely good game against Romelu Lukaku, man marking at the game, he's physical is Leone.

46:01You might say that many people could mark Romelu Lukaku out of the game. And if you haven't seen Lukaku for a while, I'd understand that. He actually had a good season last time. Giovanni Leone, very, very highly rated, and that could be a big, big signing for Liverpool. Why have Al-Hilal paid Aleksandr Mitrovic 25 million to leave? And who should sign him? Do you even know the background of this? I wish I did. I can answer the second bit, which is that pretty much every team should sign him, including his former club, Newcastle. I think it'd be a great signing for him. Oh, yeah? Given their desperate need of a striker.

46:41No, but then he does play for a club owned by their owners and they do really desperately need a striker. And he has played there before and he has been successful in the Premier League before. And I think he is one of those players who has kept himself towards the top of his game in the Saudi Pro League, which isn't the case with everybody. I think he'd be a great signing for everyone. He just causes nuisance. I think he'd be a brilliant signing for Forrest. I think he'd be a brilliant signing for West Ham. Any of those teams who need a striker, he would be grateful. Yes, there are the issues about temperament, but to be honest, talking of Newcastle, Eddie Howe's been really good at managing players and bringing them together as part of that team, Alexander-Izac, Klaxon, notwithstanding.

47:22I think everyone should be after me too. The issue is the reported wages he's on in the SPL, which is, well, it was 400 grand a week. I wonder if maybe, my theory would be that the 25 million is to say, yeah, you're probably not going to get even half these wages elsewhere. So if we make it easy for you to leave financially, would you take a lower wage offer? Okay. Is that what the deal is? I saw the headline. I wondered if I dreamt it. But yeah, he could buy himself, couldn't he? 25 million, probably buy himself. Maybe that's the future. I think it is. The way things are going. I think it is.

47:56Very nice. Okay, more on that when we know more. Let's get on to more Premier League position predicting type thing. And having done the promoted sides, I guess we've got to address the big Man United question. last season they ended 15th they followed that up with a post-season tour of Asia which featured a 1-0 defeat to a Malaysian selection in Kuala Lumpur lots of Malays for Man United, since then though, all smiles, they've spent 200 million on a whole new front line, they've had a proper pre-season with their manager so are they going to behave like a proper club again this season, well to answer that question we dialled up Laurie Whitwell who was off on their pre-season's tour of the United States.

48:42And he spoke to us a short while ago.

48:47Laurie, big season ahead for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United. You were on their tour of the United States. Have they resolved the problems? Well, let's see. I think they've certainly tried to remedy some of the problems. The biggest one being scoring goals. They scored 44 in the Premier League last season, which was a pretty abysmal total for a club of United stature and standing. And so they have gone and brought Brian Mbumu. They've gone and brought Matthias Cunha, two players that scored 20 goals and 15 goals in the Premier League last season. So basically almost matching United's entire team total.

49:25And then added on top, Benjamin Szczesko, who has been a hot prospect in Europe for several years now. United have looked at him since he was 16. And they brought him to the club now at age 22, hoping that he can translate some of that form, from that promise that he's been showing in Germany across to the English Premier League. So, yeah, I think they've tried to remedy it, but equally there's still some issues. You know, central midfield is one that was a problem last season, maybe even the goalkeeping situation, but they're obviously having discussions with Carlos Belieber at the moment to see if that can be a signing that sorts that situation out.

50:01Okay, so a bunch of money spent up front, but we're here in mid-August still with Onana in goals, still with Casemiro lining up alongside Bruno in midfield. A bunch of players in a bomb squad who were meant to be on their way. And one or two with other issues as well, possibly at the back. Has Ruben Amorim got the players to play his kind of football, the kind of progressive centre-halves? What are the other issues that still stood out for you in the United States? Yeah, I mean, the game against Everton was one where United were, you know, they probably were the better team, but I think Everton certainly gave them problems.

50:36they created quite a few chances and it was the direct balls it was the second balls and so Amarin acknowledged that and I do wonder if that's going to be a consistent problem throughout the season having that dynamism in the field that mobility at the back because they do have players in central defence there's obviously three central defenders now they can play a full-back in there Masrawi's played there or Dallow maybe Luke Shaw's been playing there as a left-sided centre-half they've got there's Andre Martinez to come back He is good at breaking the lines with his passes. That's the kind of crucial element to the defence.

51:09But I think it's still not quite settled in terms of who his best selection is there. So yeah, sorting that out, I think the Onana situation might rumble on. It seems to me that they're not going to go for a goalkeeper because he's not going to go anywhere and they can't make a signing in that case. But yeah, if they're obviously trying this ambitious move for Belieber, they haven't made a bid yet, maybe that could transform their midfield if he comes in because he's got that energy, he's got that sort of drive and that ability to carry the ball from defence to attack. But yes, there's still definitely issues to solve there.

51:41Okay. So we're a couple of days out from the start of a critical season for the manager, for the club, and a really tough opening fixture, Arsenal, at Old Trafford, where United only won seven times in all of last season. And it's still very much a work in progress for all the big signings then. What are the positives? I think the fact that they've got this change of mood around the place, certainly that's what I felt when I was over there in America. You could see the training sessions to a degree. I know they're going to put on a kind of United happy front, but then speaking to people that were closer to it, at the team hotel at the Waldorf Astoria, very glamorous location in central Chicago, there was a genuine feeling that this was a happy bunch, that they were all wanting to play for United, which is clearly why the Bobber squad, as you referenced earlier, they're out of the picture.

52:38But yeah, let's see when the results actually start coming because it's kind of fairly straightforward to be positive about the situation now. Ruman Amarin's got new players in. It's a kind of bunch of players that want to do much better than they did last season. So I think that's certainly a positive, that kind of willingness to perform better. And certainly, actually, the physicality that they showed against West Ham, against Bournemouth, you know, three teams that finished above them in the Premier League last season were in this Premier League Summer Series over in America and they didn't, you know, they went unbeaten, two wins and a draw.

53:09And then certainly against, in the first two matches, they showed some good speed, good aggressive pressing up top. So I think that's maybe an indication that with training sessions, with proper time to work with these players, Amarin can get, you know, good results. All in all, though, some decent results against mid-table teams from last season in pre-season friendlies and the fact that players might actually want to turn up for work this season, it's quite thin gruel. What represents success for United this season after their 15th place last time around? Yeah, it's a big question, that really, isn't it?

53:44Because ordinarily, you'd suggest that anything below the Champions League places for United would be a failure. They're clearly adjusting perspectives. And I mean, I've spoken to people that have even said a top-half finish, they'd be sort of satisfied just after the disaster of last season. I think ultimately what Ameren is saying, what all the players are saying is Europe. They have to return to some form of European competition, not only for the prestige, but also for the bank balance, for the broadcast revenue that comes in. I did actually put that proposition to Mason Mount, who spoke to us in Chicago, because he'd sort of said, yeah, Europe's the aim.

54:18And I said, what about Champions League? And he kind of went, oh, Europe's the aim, sort of to kind of make sure that there wasn't too lofty ambition, which is crazy, really. When you think about United and the titles they've won, obviously under Sir Alex Ferguson, they never finished below third and they were kind of always in the title hunt. So for them to kind of now be talking as if seventh or sixth would be good enough, it does show the change in perspective. But I suppose if United really are adamant about sticking with Ruben Amarin and making this system, making this football structure work, they will probably have to experience more pain to get there.

54:53So not back yet, Laurie, that's the verdict. Certainly, yeah. I mean, I'm withholding all judgment on United because I've seen this story before where I thought, you know, even under Erickson Haag, when they finished third, you sort of thought, OK, they're building something here and then disaster strikes and then they finish eighth. You know, eighth this season, people might be happy with, you know. And that was what obviously brought everyone to point fingers at Erickson Haag and say he was so fortunate to survive after the FA Cup final victory. So, yeah, I think certainly not back yet. We'll wait until they play some matches in real competition first.

55:26Laurie Whitwell. Daniel, what do you think? Are the Manchester United days over? Yeah, to an extent, I think. I don't think it's still the same back five or back six, and it's going to be a central midfield with not enough energy unless they spend£100 million on Carlos Belieba. So I've not got them any higher than seventh, but I think that lack of European football means that seventh is an eminent possibility. OK, Tom? I mean... Put a number on it. Are we going to predict the entire table? No, just Man United. I think top 10. Really? Yeah. I mean, I think the difficulty for Amarim is that United have to be significantly better than they were last season from the start.

56:07OK, he's betting in new players. He's betting in an entire forward line. But he's had the best part of a year to work with most of these players now. Right. And there's this, you know, we heard, you know, quite a lot after he came in that it was going to take time to drill these players on this new system. And while there is an element of truth in that, when Thomas Tuchel went to Chelsea at the end of the 2020-21 season, he got them playing successfully in a back three in the space of one week. Thomas Frank at Spurs. They look like a well-coached team now. This is the thing. A good coach who knows how to get his ideas across shouldn't need an entire year or the best part of to introduce a new system.

56:51And the difficulty, the additional difficulty is that United's opening fixtures are very, very difficult. Let's hear them. They play Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea in the first five matches. What were the other two games, Tom? home to Arsenal away at Fulham home to Burnley away at Manchester City home to Chelsea away to Brentford home to Sunderland away to Liverpool hmm I mean those are certainly fixtures aren't they alright somewhere in the top 10 you've got them Tim yeah in the mix for top 10 maybe just outside I just the front three additions are obviously very very good but you know I thought they had a great summer last year to be honest but they've got if you look at there was a table doing the rounds recently of their top 10 most expensive signings of which you know three are this summer most of them have completely flopped you know so so yeah the signings look good on paper but there's something wrong with that club be it a toxic dressing room or the recruitment team or the way that they're managed where their new signings who always look good on paper say again the roof as well they just it doesn't work for every reason and yeah good additions but they needed to prioritize different areas of the team I think the team is still built on sand.

58:01They've still got a Nona in goal. I'm not convinced about the defence. Casimiro is still the DM. Dalo is still a wing-back. I'm not convinced by any of those players. So how can you say that they're going to challenge for Europe? That's the sound of Man United optimism and Tim's cold water pouring all over it. I know with that hopometer, but the Man United fans that I know are not that optimistic. Are they not? They say sort of maybe eighth, ninth at best. Wow. Okay. one more part to come in this Premier League preview and other bits show when we'll talk about other teams

58:46other teams everybody Bournemouth who kicked things off against Liverpool on Friday Villa will be in action Saturday lunchtime hosting Newcastle. You've got Brighton against Fulham at three on Saturday. Sunderland, West Ham. Spurs, Burnley. And at 5.30, Wolves, Tim Wolves against Manchester City. Sunday at 2 o 'clock, Chelsea Palace and Forest Brentford at 4.30, Man United, Arsenal. Woof. Then we'll be doing a pod straight after that. Oh, we're going to be live streaming it. Yes, we're going to be live streaming it. So if you fancy some live-streamed, very hot takes on the Premier League weekend, and you don't want to wait around until your Monday morning.

59:31Around about 6.30 on Sunday, it's on YouTube. Later on, Leeds take on Everton on Monday. All right, they're not going to go through every team predicting positions, Tom. That would be madness. so what are the big questions for the rest of the Premier League who's going to do a forest who's going to be in trouble if one of the promoted sides stay up what do you think Daniel I think broadly the most interesting question is surrounds the next two weeks quite frankly I think we've seen this summer that there is a massive that the big six traditional big six have been able to spend heavily and the promoted clubs have tried to spend heavily and between that there is a massive clubs who have either lost players or negative or have struggled to bring players in.

1:00:24I think for a whole host of clubs, I include Forest, Brentford, Bournemouth and Palace and West Ham in this, maybe Wolves as well. The issue, I think, is that 15 to 20 million used to be the fee you paid to get a decent player in. And that's now shifted this summer, I think, to kind of 30, 35 million and that takes a lot more due diligence it takes up a lot more of your PSR wiggle room and so clubs are kind of waiting and seeing I think we're seeing dominoes waiting to fall with certain major moves but how that next two weeks goes really could affect the whole season like Newcastle are really a good example because they're sort of further down the process in that everybody loses their minds and they're top of the pessimism table and then they sign Malik Thiel we hear probably all signed Jacob Ramsey they've signed Anthony Ilanga things can change so much over the next two weeks but there are some clubs in there Bournemouth rebuilding the defence Brentford rebuilding the attack West Ham trying to lower the average age and get a creative player now Kudis has gone there are clubs with an awful lot to do and Tim will probably talk about Wolves but they are one of them if they don't then it feels like 14th is the ceiling Tom asks Can Wolves break Derby's 11-point record low?

1:01:42Tom says, not this Tom. This is another Tom who's written in. No plan, no ambition, no hope. Welcome to the black country. Yikes. No, come on. I'm sorry. I'm not having that. It's okay. It's not very optimistic. You know, obviously, Cunha went early June the 1st. Aitnori went early. 100 million for those two. Right. We're all kind of expecting that to be spent fairly quickly on really good replacements. they've just plugged those two gaps that's pretty much all they've done they've got the fantastically named David Muller Wolf is a left wing back he's also got a Wolf tattoo and he sort of was joking around a couple of years ago that Wolves would be a good team for him to join, it's just great it's right, it fits is he going to play with Wolf on the back of his shirt I did a bit of research on this yesterday and at his previous clubs I think he wore Muller Wolf, I mean it's obviously his name so that's fair enough.

1:02:38You talk about puncturing optimism. That's the one thing I'm really looking forward to. But is it? A wolf shirt with just wolf on the back worn by a guy whose name is wolf with a wolf tattoo. If he puts a Muller on, he'll be a wolf in Muller's clothing. It will, it will. He would be the first wolf, with an E on the end, to play for wolves since John DeWolf 30 years ago. Yeah, what a guy. Yeah, great guy. Real cool hero he was. I had the pleasure of interviewing him a couple of years ago in Amsterdam in 2019. He had the long hair, the goatee, the long throws, the wolf name. He was great fun. Talking of fun, they're signed John Arias as well.

1:03:18John Arias. He's spelt in a challenging fashion. Yeah, he is. He's tripped up a few people already with his John spelling. But yeah, he'll be fun. But if you look at his, he's 27. If you look at his career history in Brazil, he's not going to put up the kind of numbers that Mateus Cunha did last season. So there are issues there. He looked great in the Club World Cup. He did. I think he'll be good fun. He'll be entertaining. But I think Wolves should stay up because the spine of their team would walk into any of the newly promoted teams. For example, Jose Sar in goal. Agbedou, who was one of the better defenders of the second half of last season in the Premier League.

1:03:57Still got Jao Gomez and Andre in midfield. Two excellent Brazilian midfielders. and Jürgen Strand-Larsen up front who scored 14 goals last year and as Daniel's pointed out are any of the newly promoted teams going to have a striker anywhere near that sort of goal ratio so I think Wolves will stay up but that's their only ambition it also feels to me at the moment and when you're circling the drain and you're only aiming for sort of 15th maximum then you will go at some point but I don't think it'll be this year Okay, and to ask what are Everton David Moyes, Big Gladney, Barry up front one of the best players among the non-European sides in Illumann and Jai a new stadium yet they still feel kind of iffy overall says Ander who possibly wrote this before Jack Grealish rocked up at the Hill what's it called the Hill Dickinson Stadium Hill Dickinson Stadium thank you it's not there either it's Hill Dickinson Stadium right Hill Dickinson Stadium Ander continues are they bottom five fodder can they become the Premier League seventh team again a bit scattergun this Ander what he finishes off with just what what is an Everton I think Everton could have a good season.

1:05:02Are they the side you're most excited to see this opening weekend? I wouldn't go that far. I think they are for me. But I mean... It's Grealish. Yeah, I mean, for fans of players who play with their socks rolled out and in for an absolute treat at Hill Dickinson Stadium this season. So you've got Grealish and Illiman and Di and Kean and Dewsbury Hall. Dewsbury Hall. They're trying to sign Tyler Diblin. And they're trying to sign Tyler Diblin. Ultimate, it's like, okay, we're taking a big step into the future. with his shiny new stadium. But we haven't forgotten where we've come from. We're signing players who play where their socks were all down.

1:05:35I like it. Who Everton playing this weekend? They are at Leeds Monday night and then home to Brighton a week Sunday for the first game at the new stadium. But look, David Moyes had a huge impact last season. They hit a fantastic run of form, which tailed off a little bit right at the end of the season when it was clear that they were safe. They haven't lost too many teams. Abdoulaye Dukoury has moved on, but they've got in DI, they've got Greenwich, you know, might have Tyler Dibbling as well. Spent a bit of money, Tieno Barry coming in from Villarreal, so they've got a new centre-forward. You know, the excitement of moving into a new stadium.

1:06:09I think that the shift to the stadium will be a factor. And we know from, you know, recent Premier League history that clubs always take a bit of time to find their feet. and Goodison presented a very particular challenge for visiting teams that Everton harnessed in their good times exceptionally well and they're going to need to find a relationship, build a relationship with this new stadium and that probably will take time. But I think there is a momentum there. I think they have made some good signings. You feel like there's always excitement about a new stadium But I think, you know, with the signings as well and the kind of momentum they found last season, I think they should be optimistic.

1:06:56Who's going to do a forest this season in terms of not stitching up South London rivals for a place in Europe, but making a real concerted run for European positions and even challenging at times for the top four? Do you see a club doing that? I mean, there's lots of contenders. I mean, the story of last season was the emergence of this, you know, pretty substantial middle class, you know, kind of bubbling around between kind of fifth, sixth and mid table. I fancy Brighton again had a good season. Yeah. They had signed an awful lot of players a year ago that a brand new, famously young coach in Fabian Herzler.

1:07:31And the first half of the season was very up and down. They did hit a bit of form in the second half of the season. they beat some good sides and it's been a little bit quieter this season some changes in the back line but I can see Brighton kicking on They've done what they needed to as in defensive additions is what they were screaming out for they needed a new Lewis Dunk they may have got him in Diogo Coppola from Verona just broke into the Italy team last season there's a lot of buzz about the two Greek youngsters they've signed, Simas and Kostelas who haven't really featured in pre-season but they've spent a lot of money on them.

1:08:06I think it was£30 million on Costa Lass, who only sort of broke into the Olympiacos team last season. But Tom mentions the players they brought last summer when they spent£200 million. They were all aged 19 to 25, designed to get better. Matt O 'Reilly, who they got from Celtic, he's sort of improved as last season went on. He might not be there. There's a lot of talk that he might be at Juventus come the new season. Interesting. Well, there are others. I mean, Minter and Mats Weaver as well. Ruta, who they got from Leeds. He had a good season last season. You'd expect him to kick on. So, yeah, they were pretty close to Europe last season.

1:08:45I would expect them to be in Europe at the end of this season. All right, Brian. Two votes for Brian. Daniel? I mean, my general hot take for this season is that it's a sort of replica of post-2015-16, which is when Leicester won the league and all the big clubs decided, right, we can't have that happening again. I kind of feel like with the business done this season, how some of those clubs have been raided, the same message has happened in that we can't let all these upstarts start thinking that they can get in the top five or six. So my, I don't know if it's a hot take at all, maybe it's the opposite, but I think the top eight will be the big six plus Villa and Newcastle.

1:09:24So I think that they will kind of go back to that, not letting anyone in. I agree that Brighton are probably the most likely, but I think we're saying that because the other clubs haven't bought anyone yet or haven't replaced the players they've lost, so it's impossible to pick them. But yeah, I think the eight will be the eight. The eight will be the eight. And Tom? But then as always happens at this time of year, there is a tendency to make our predictions and to look at the season through the prism of transfer dealings. and there have been examples in the past of teams who've done very little transfer business, that famous Mauricio Pochettino season at Tottenham.

1:10:04Liverpool last year. Liverpool last year as well. Like, if you've got the same players and you've maybe made one or two additions, there's no reason to think that you're going to be worse than you were. And there's a lot to be said for stability. Who are you thinking, Tom? Give us a name. Crystal Palace. Palace. You know, teams who haven't signed many players. Sorry, Fulham have made a change. They signed a reserve goalkeeper. Fulham have signed a reserve goalkeeper. Very important spot in any squad. But there's no reason to think that they will automatically have a worse season than they did last year.

1:10:34Just because they haven't strengthened. Another example. All right. Well, you know what? Daniel points out that meaningless transfers may or may not be. There are two more weeks of them, which could significantly change the pictures in personnel terms. ahead of, you know, as the season progresses. So between that and the fact that we've all been rambling on for a bit, let's park this. We should do it all again in two weeks once we know who everyone signs. Hey, yeah, that's a great shout. I'm sure we'll get the opportunity as we react to the many matches as they take place starting from tomorrow night and Liverpool-Bourmouth.

1:11:12Or we could just ask AI to edit this podcast, updating all our predictions and factoring in new signings. It's the future. It's not a string we want to be pulling at. It's not a thread we want to be pulling at. No, you're so right, Daniel. Anyway, we're going to be live, actual human beings, Sunday evening, reviewing what the early games have told us. I bet everyone's going to go, we can't tell anything from 90 Minutes and hedge and couch and all that kind of stuff. but there'll be some hot takes in there as well. Join us, as I say, live on YouTube or just hang around for Monday morning and we'll have the regular podcast nicely packaged up for you.

1:11:54But for now, it's many, many thanks to Chris Weatherspoon earlier on, Laurie Whitwell, to Tim and Tom and Daniel, producer Lucy, and you, listener. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the football and we'll catch up with you Sunday. Bye-bye for now.

1:12:13You've been listening to The Totally Football Show, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. For more great podcasts just like this one, including The Athletic FC and our dedicated club podcasts, search for The Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. We're also at The Totally Football Show on Insta and at The Totally Show on YouTube. The Totally Football Show is an Athletic Media Company production.

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