Uncle Madd here checking in with my first Power Rankings, and a few quick thoughts on the Premier League season.
Power Rankings:
Tottenham Hotspur
Bournemouth
Arsenal
Manchester City
Newcastle United
Brighton and Hove Albion
Leeds United
Chelsea
Brentford
Fulham
Leicester City
Liverpool
Manchester United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Everton
Aston Villa
Crystal Palace
Nottingham Forest
West Ham
Southampton
Matchday 1 Quick Thoughts:
It felt like the only hope we had for a competitive title race was if City's marquee new signing, Erling Haaland struggled to adapt to the Premier League. He scored a brace in an overall dominated performance against West Ham. Just give them the trophy now. Unless...
Is Tottenham for real? They had the best performance of the weekend even if it was against a Southampton team that looks to be in real trouble. Tottenham still dominated the match and won comfortably without even needing Harry Kane or Son to score. They look to have built a solid squad, and Conte knows how to win this league.
Liverpool can't be counted out yet obviously. Like Haaland, their new marquee signing Darwin Nunez looks like he will have no problem adjusting to the premier league, but their aging central midfield and defenders could be an issue. If they can add fresh legs in those areas they could be dangerous.
Bournemouth was the surprise of the weekend. I had them penciled in to finish at the bottom of the table, and go straight back to the Championship. After their win over Aston Villa, the Cherries look like they will put up a fight to stay in the Premier League.
As a Manchester United supporter, I have been able to find reasons to be optimistic before each of the post-Ferguson seasons, until this season. The lack of reinforcements, particularly in midfield was always going to lead to disaster. The idea that any manager could take essentially the same squad that struggled to finish 6th last season, and pushes them back up the table is laughable. We know who these players are at this point. If United is not able to make major additions in the remaining weeks of the transfer window we could be looking at a major collapse. They certainly looked like a team that belongs in the bottom half of the table against Brighton. They should sign Gross since he always scores against them.
Every team I love is currently falling apart, so follow me on Twitter to see a mental breakdown payout in realtime