Thursday, June 29, 2023

Silly Season

Silly season is that time of year when rumors fly and fanciful dreams sometimes, but not always, come true for Premier League supporters. Last season’s momentous move of Erling Haaland to Manchester City led to a historic Treble.

The last two transfer windows saw a strange spending spree by a new ownership group at Chelsea which delivered quantity but seemingly not the quality to which Blues supporters had been accustomed. This summer’s transfer window is seeing Chelsea rushing to undo past damage in an unprecedented fire sale. Outgoing rumors at Chelsea thus play a feature role in this summer’s window.

A number of departures feature Saudi Arabia as an unusual and lucrative destination for several departing players. The N’Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy transfers to Saudi Arabian clubs are complete. An expected move to the Saudi League for Hakim Ziyech is imminent. The Chelsea players will join stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the big spending Saudi Arabian league which is populating its squads with European stars in the manner of the Chinese league some years back.

Staying in England will be Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic who joins Manchester City, bolstering the Premier League champion’s midfield which has said goodbye to captain Ilkay Gundogan. The German international has departed for Barcelona.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have acquired Gunodgan’s countryman and Chelsea’s leading scorer last season, Kai Havertz. Former Bayer Leverkusen star Havertz had a star-crossed time at Chelsea. His goal in 2021 delivered a Champions League title for Chelsea and then manager Thomas Tuchel. Much of his time with the club, however, will be remembered for missed chances as he became the face of Chelsea’s problems in putting the ball in the net. Havertz, whose success in the Bundesliga was as an attacking midfielder, was often asked to lead the line at Chelsea with poor results. A career revival could be in store for the 24-year-old should he slide into a more comfortable role in the Gunners midfield.

That Arsenal midfield could be further improved by the addition of West Ham’s Declan Rice. Arsenal have submitted multiple bids for Rice and reportedly now have the inside track with Manchester City supposedly withdrawing from the bidding war for the England defensive midfielder. Rice would be a perfect fit to guard the Arsenal back line. Rumored to be departing Arsenal, particularly if the Rice deal closes, are current Gunner midfielders Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka. Arsenal’s negotiations for Rice have been protracted with multiple bids being exchanged.

A similar scenario has played out in Manchester United’s attempted signing of Mason Mount from Chelsea. Chelsea have been surprisingly stubborn on the transfer fees for Mount, even as they conduct their roster clear out. The talented Mount is a Chelsea academy graduate and has seen action in the England squad which makes the 24-year-old’s departure tougher for Chelsea supporters to accept. Mount and Chelsea can’t agree on an extension to his current contract, however, and he thus would walk for free after next season if not sold.

Harry Kane is in a comparable contract situation at Tottenham Hotspur, but the club has so far rebuffed interest from other clubs in the England striker. Bayern Munich is reported to have submitted a bid for Kane this week. Meanwhile, Spurs have acquired midfielder James Maddison from relegated Leicester. Reported interest in Maddison by other clubs was surprisingly muted for a player who had 19 goal involvements in the Premier League last season.

The silliest midfielder pursuit this window has been, unsurprisingly, Chelsea’s interest in Brighton’s Moises Caicedo. Brighton wants Declan Rice type money for the Ecuadorian who has just one season of Premier League experience. Caicedo is good but not that good. What Brighton is demanding is essentially double what the club received from Liverpool for World Cup winning midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. Mac Allister had a reasonable release clause written within his contract. Caicedo does not and the club can thus demand whatever it wants. Chelsea remains in desperate need of a striker which makes a large expenditure for midfielder Caicedo even more questionable.

The London club is still trying to balance the books with additional potential departures in various stages of rumors and process for players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic. Loftus-Cheek was reported enroute Thursday for his medical physical in Italy to complete a transfer to AC Milan. The Italian club has funds to reinvest after the sale of Sandro Tonali to Newcastle. The Magpies paid a steep price for the Italian midfielder who normally plays the same holding defensive midfielder position as current Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes. It will be interesting to see how Newcastle Manager Eddie Howe sets up his team next season with many expecting Guimaraes to be given more freedom to attack as a box-to-box midfielder after the addition of Tonali. AC Milan, meanwhile, continues to shop with its newfound funds and has been connected with Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic. Pulisic’s wages, however, are making it difficult for Chelsea to market the American.  

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Monday, June 26, 2023

U21 Euros A Chance To Shine For Premier League Youngsters

The U21 Euros currently being played in Romania and Georgia provides some opportunities for young Premier League players to make a statement. Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe is wasting no time as he tallied in each of England’s first two group stage matches, identical 2-0 scorelines over Czechoslovakia and Israel. Smith Rowe was a forgotten man for the Gunners last season. Injured early on, Smith Rowe lost his place on a squad which led the Premier League for much of the season. Arsenal ultimately lost out to Manchester City and is looking to bolster the squad in this transfer window to set up another title challenge next season. That could mean even more competition for Smith Rowe who continues to profess a desire to fight for his place. The young forward can help put himself back on Manager Mikel Arteta’s radar with a strong U21 Euros performance.

Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey scored England’s opening goal against Czechoslovakia after an exchange of passes with Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon. Ramsey had a solid season for Unai Emery and an improved Villa side in the Premier League last season and this summer can only further burnish his reputation. Gordon, like Smith Rowe, is trying to re-establish his standing with a strong Euros. The former Everton academy player left on bad terms with the Toffees and their fans last season and proceeded to underwhelm in his time at Newcastle. Perhaps the most vivid memory of his brief time with the Magpies was the sight of him arguing with Manager Eddie Howe on the sidelines. Gordon’s vocalizations at each of his two Premier League stops have outpaced his on-pitch production. Once highly regarded, Gordon wants to recapture that status with a strong performance for England. After having a goal called back against Czechoslovakia, Gordon broke through against Israel, finding the scoresheet from an unaccustomed striker position. Gordon’s demonstrated versatility could give Newcastle Manger Eddie Howe some additional options next season in deploying the young Englishman.

Morgan Gibbs-White was instrumental in Nottingham Forest’s Premier League survival last season after his transfer from Wolves. Like Gordon, the midfielder was positioned up top in England’s dual striker formation and assisted on both goals in the win over Israel. Gibbs-White is further building his case for a future spot on Gareth Southgate’s senior England team.

Noni Madueke, however, will need further development before Southgate looks his way. Madueke was one of the few Chelsea players to look interested in the Premier League’s final weeks and his energy was again on display against Czechoslovakia, though flagging a bit versus Israel. Most notably, however, the young winger exhibits the all too familiar and seemingly endemic habit of Chelsea attackers who fail to convert their chances. Madueke missed on three chances versus Czechoslovakia, once clipping the crossbar, before egregiously firing wide on a chance which would have given Gibbs-White a third assist versus Israel.

Madueke, England teammate Levi Colwill, and Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk are all trying to use the tournament to make a good first impression on new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino. Colwill is coming off a strong season on loan at Brighton and the Seagulls are reportedly still anxious to lock down his services for the long term, submitting two unsuccessful bids so far on a permanent transfer. Colwill, however, is expected to be a building block at the back of Pochettino’s defense, his importance even greater with the departure of center back Kalidou Koulibaly to Saudi Arabia this summer. The young defender has played well in England’s opening two clean sheets.

Mudryk, on the other hand, hasn’t gotten off the bench in Ukraine’s two matches and is reportedly nursing a calf injury. It could be a lost opportunity for the young winger who made little impact for Chelsea in limited minutes under managers Graham Potter and Frank Lampard. Early returns are making Mudryk look like the poster boy for Chelsea’ owner Todd Boehly’s misguided spending to date. Boehly overpaid to steal Mudryk out from under an Arsenal bid and Mudryk’s subsequent lack of production makes it seem the Gunners may have dodged a bullet.

Another injury has derailed the U21 Euro participation of Crystal Place’s Michael Olise. Shortly after scoring the winning goal for France versus Norway, Olise pulled a hamstring and is out for the tournament and likely a good piece of the Eagles’ preseason preparations. Olise, who has rumored interest from Chelsea and PSG, could see an expanded role at Place should Wilfried Zaha leave the club this summer.

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Thursday, June 22, 2023

Cherries Sack Survival Savior O’Neil

Gary O’Neil took over at Bournemouth last August after the club had just been clobbered in a 9-0 thrashing by Liverpool which tied a record for the worst defeat in Premier League history. His predecessor, Scott Parker, had lamented that the Cherries had no chance to compete following their promotion to the Premier League, citing a roster that had not been upgraded from their lower division success. Three successive defeats, the record capitulation, and the public rant ended things for Parker and opened the door for first time manager O’Neil.

Shockingly, the Cherries began his tenure with a six-match unbeaten run. Thirteen points in 11 matches would result in O’Neil’s status being upgraded from interim to permanent over the World Cup break. Shortly afterwards, the club was bought by American businessman Bill Foley. O’Neil would then go on to lead the south coast side to a 15th place finish in one of the more remarkable managerial performances of the season, apologies messieurs Guardiola, Howe and De Zerbi. One would have thought Foley to be pleased. An expected relegation would have been a poor early return on the American’s investment and O’Neil had provided a foundation to build on heading into this summer transfer window. Was Foley grateful for his manager’s performance? Not so much. O’Neil was sacked on Monday. His departure was necessary, according to the owner, to provide the club with “the best platform with which to build.” Ouch…

Just hours later Bournemouth would announce the appointment of a new manager in Andoni Iraola, most recently the manager of Rayo Vallecano in Spain’s La Liga. Such is the precarious existence of managers in the Premier League where often applauded success can still result in a pink slip. The new Bournemouth ownership envisions bigger things for the Cherries than mere survival and was looking for a more experienced manager whose clubs play with a bit more flair. A disciple of former Leeds Manager Marcelo Bielsa, Iraola’s clubs play an entertaining, high pressing, fast paced style.

In fairness to O’Neil, the Cherries personnel this past season largely dictated a more disciplined and pragmatic approach. Foley’s next move is to provide Iraola with the types of weapons he needs beginning with this transfer window. O’Neil leaves Bournemouth as a much younger version of English firefighter mangers such as survival experts Sam Allardyce and Roy Hodgsons, O’Neil having even tainted Allardyce’s reputation this past season as Leeds went down while the Cherries stayed up. Unfortunately for O’Neil, an English manager has never won a Premier League title and the implosion of Graham Potter at Chelsea this season does not help the perception of English managers. Andoni is the same age as O’Neil but is viewed as having a much higher ceiling and a more impressive resume after earning Rayo Vallecano promotion to La Liga and a semifinal finish in the Copa Del Rayo during his time there.

Bournemouth’s new manager becomes the fourth manager from the Basque region of Spain currently managing in the Premier League, joining Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery and Julian Lopetegui.

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