It was a Friday night in mid-August and at Old Trafford Erik Ten Hag was communicating his “excitement” at the start of a new season – “and its possibilities”.
Although that morning’s back pages had Ten Hag saying Manchester United were “not ready”, in his programme notes for United’s and the Premier League’s season opener against Fulham, Ten Hag made mention of sporting director Dan Ashworth, “several high-quality new coaches” plus “some very talented signings”. Altogether it made United’s Dutch manager sense a “new energy” around the club. Rather than “not ready”, he said “we’re raring to go.”
And so it began, Premier League season 33, on parallel lines.
Also speaking that week, with a mixture of anticipation and wariness were Steve Cooper, Gary O’Neil, Russell Martin, Julen Lopetegui and Sean Dyche. Lopetegui and Dyche at least made it to Christmas.
Sadly for Ten Hag, he did not reach November. United did beat Fulham, 1-0 late on via a new face – Joshua Zirkzee -, but the unconvincing nature of the performance was there for all to see. Maybe last season’s FA Cup final had not been a new beginning after all.
Sure enough, following Fulham there was defeat at Brighton, then a loss at home to Liverpool. It was the first of two early 3-0 Old Trafford defeats for United, the other coming against Tottenham. It was all too much for the new hierarchy. Out went Ten Hag, in came Ruben Amorim. On Sunday night, it is he who takes United to Fulham.
The Premier League stands on its head this weekend. The fixtures are the reverse of those on the opening day. It is a moment to reflect.
United opened that four-day Premier League weekend; Leicester City closed it.
“Tonight we start a new chapter,” wrote Cooper in his programme notes. He had been appointed after Enzo Maresca’s departure for Chelsea. Leicester had won the Championship and, back in the top flight, “we intend to grasp this opportunity”, Cooper said.
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Half an hour in against Tottenham, Leicester were 1-0 down and being outplayed. James Maddison strolled around his old turf, Dominic Solanke almost scored a few minutes into his Spurs debut. Ange Postecoglou was a happy man at half-time.
But then 37-year-old Jamie Vardy equalised for Leicester and Tottenham, to the annoyance of travelling supporters who must loathe the term, went all Spursy. It ended 1-1, Cooper smiled and Tottenham wondered how they could be so good and so bad in the one 90 minutes. They hoped a pattern had not been set.
On Sunday Leicester go to Spurs with Cooper watching on television. Ruud van Nistelrooy is Leicester’s head coach and Postecoglou is under internal and external scrutiny. Injuries have been debilitating but even if the real Tottenham could stand up, would we know?
Van Nistelrooy started the season as one of Ten Hag’s high-quality coaches, but is now in charge of a side who have lost their last seven league games. Leicester remain in touching distance of survival and need to keep it that way until May. Then they have Southampton and Ipswich at home – theoretically their two easiest games of the season.
That will look a long way away, but there is a club motto: Foxes Never Quit.
Hanging in will not just require six or seven wins, Leicester need Wolves and Everton to remain in flux.
Wolves kicked off the season at Arsenal and were pretty competitive until Bukayo Saka scored a late-ish second goal. It was the next weekend – Chelsea scoring six at Molineux – when a shudder ran through the club.
By December O’Neil was gone from corralling a fractious squad. It was the same day Martin was shepherded out of Southampton. Results for both clubs continue to flatline under Vitor Pereira and Ivan Juric.
With Ipswich Town having let in six against Manchester City last Sunday, it is probable the three clubs promoted last May will be the same three who go down this May. That has happened less often than we might think in the Premier League – only twice. But this would be twice in a row.
As third-bottom Ipswich have the same number of points as fourth-bottom Wolves, pessimism is of no benefit to Kieran McKenna. Not even when he turns up at Anfield on Saturday.
In the August sunshine Ipswich got to half-time goalless with Liverpool at Portman Road. Then Arne Slot made his first tactical intervention, removing Jarell Quansah, and Mo Salah scored the first of 22 goals he has by late January.
Ipswich will have that on their mind, but the rest of us should probably remember that two years ago this weekend McKenna’s players were facing Morecambe in League One.
Slot was at Feyenoord then and Jürgen Klopp was Anfield’s darling. We have not heard Klopp’s name often, a measure of Slot’s impact.
There’s a case for Slot being manager of the season – to date – although at Nottingham Forest they may argue otherwise. Having sometimes displayed rigid conservatism, Nuno Espirito Santo has Forest thriving on adventurous conservatism.
Andoni Iraola is another contender and it’s Bournemouth-Forest on Saturday. In August it was 1-1 and Chris Wood scored, starting a trend.
With Goodison Park entering its final season, Everton hosted Brighton on the opening day. Dyche’s side lost 3-0. It is one of 12 games in which Everton have not scored. While Liverpool have 50 goals, Everton have 18 and the two have to meet twice. David Moyes has taken plenty on; Graham Potter may feel the same at West Ham.
Those clubs are changed yet somehow the same, whereas at the biggest story of the season, Manchester City, it is the other way round.
Rewind to their opening afternoon at Chelsea and they won without post-Euros Rodri but with a swagger that said after a record fourth consecutive league title, a fifth would be along soon. Any concerns about the immediate future belonged to Chelsea and how Maresca would manage – upwards and downwards.
But then Rodri was injured, Mateo Kovacic was injured and suddenly City lacked rhythm. Pep Guardiola scratched around for answers but as October became November then December, this Manchester City, the best team in the world, won one of nine league games.
City host Chelsea with the visitors above them and Guardiola’s expression is one of confusion.
He is not alone. Here we are five months on from the first whistle and though the players are the same it can feel like a different era when a name such as Ten Hag’s arises. With English football apparently determined to become a seven-day content operation, tracing time is tricky. How do you keep up? But we’re back to the start. Sort of.
