Drama returns with plenty of storylines to be resolved
IT didn’t quite end on a cliffhanger, but was starting to bring a few big storylines together.
There then happened something you couldn’t script, and that people were previously joking about as regards Liverpool’s title, despite the seriousness of the situation. The Premier League was subjected to the longest break it’s ever had.
And while you’ve had to wait much longer between series of your favourite box set, the difference is they don’t have any developments in between. The Premier League, and football, has had so much news.
It’s easy to forget some of the controversies at the start of the coronavirus crisis — such as the player pay dispute — let alone those in the Premier League. So here, in classic TV style, are reminders of the main stories going back into the big show…
The club have been counting down the days, which is somewhat appropriate because this grand emotional release of a title victory is set to be greatly defined by the numbers: when it happens, and by how much. While it has long been inevitable Liverpool will win the league, more intriguing now is the manner.
They could well be the most emphatic Premier League winners ever, with by far the highest points record.
That is one other reason the pre-break slump was so frustrating. It so tantalisingly prolonged the wait, but also undercut their previous perfection. The wonder is whether they can pick up where they left off, to at last lift the trophy. Every game until then will be an event.
The deposed champions could still have their greatest ever season on the pitch, during perhaps the worst controversy off it.
They could yet win every single cup competition and the Champions League itself.
In contrast to the domestic league, they certainly haven’t looked underwhelming in Europe.
That such form comes at a time when their ban from the Champions League could be upheld — and could bring huge questions of such glory as well as huge reputational damage — adds to the strangeness of it all.
To add to that, a player who has provided as much joy as David Silva may have his farewell in front of empty stands.
The City case only adds another layer of complexity to one of the most open top-four races in years. It is possible we could have a sudden twist, and fifth means qualification, potentially opening the way for the entire top half to qualify.
Ninth-place Arsenal would only be five points off… which touches on the next storyline.
Are Frank Lampard, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mikel Arteta actually good? It’s still genuinely hard to say, because their careers at this level are so far so short. The next few months could go a long way as to indicating whether they prolong them. They’re all in their jobs in part because of their playing legacies. It’s time to show their mettle as
managers.
Great as this season has been for Liverpool, it’s been almost as promising for Leicester City, Wolves and Sheffield United. They currently lie in third, sixth and seventh respectively, amazing many with how impressively they’ve risen. The big question now, after such a long break and ahead of the big crunch, is whether they can sustain it. The real pressure is on.
Is Jose Mourinho petering out, or will the break revitalise him? He came into the Tottenham Hotspur job insisting he was a changed coach, only to suffer so many of the same tedious problems.
It was undeniably an underwhelming start — but one where he could plead an overwhelming amount of injuries. The break has levelled all of this. Harry Kane and so many others are fit. We may get to see the real Mourinho (below), or prove this was him all along. Similar applies to Carlo Ancelotti at Everton. The question is whether he can revitalise the club, and his career.
THE reason we’re all here, in more ways than one: to just be part of the Premier League. Relegation was one of the biggest issues in the protracted discussions over Project Restart, but could yet prove its biggest draw.
It may well end up the only source of drama yet, all the more so because it involves so many clubs. It’s six right now, but more could get drawn in. That also goes to some bigger themes, like the best way to survive. Is it now to play your way out, like Brighton and Bournemouth, or dig in like Nigel Pearson’s Watford?
Beyond the bigger pictures, there are enticing individual stories. Can Jamie Vardy stay as top scorer? Will Kane return to form? How well will Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba play together? How will Pogba adapt to having to stay? Who will prove themselves the player of the season, in what feels an open field?