Which of the promoted teams can survive in EPL?
Away from the Premier League’s title favourites stands a collection of outsiders looking to solidify themselves as established members in the world’s richest league.
Promoted teams Norwich, Watford and Brentford take their place in the Premier League looking to emulate Wolverhampton and Leeds, who have transitioned well to life in the top flight and managed top-half finishes in their first season. Which of the three look best positioned to do the same?
Norwich comes up as the Championship winners and are likely to have a more rounded game plan compared to the attacking approach that proved their undoing two seasons ago under the same manager, Daniel Farke.
Watford had comfortably the best defensive record in the second tier - just 30 goals conceded in 46 games - but might not have the attacking quality to survive.
Most of the intrigue surrounds Brentford, a team from southwest London competing in the top flight for the first time since 1947 and which is owned by an entrepreneur - a former professional gambler, Matthew Benham - who uses analytics to unearth talent overlooked by traditional scouting methods. This “Moneyball” method has finally lifted the team to the Premier League and will come under strain against some of the world’s best club teams. It will be fascinating to see how the experiment turns out. Brentford will host Arsenal in the opening match of the season today at 2 p.m. Jamaica time.
EVERTON AND BENITEZ
Shaken by the unexpected departure of Carlo Ancelotti, Everton were forced to begin a search for a fifth manager of the five-year tenure of majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. He’s landed on his most contentious hire yet. Appointing Rafa Benitez, the former manager of the club’s fiercest rivals, Liverpool, with a pragmatic playing style hardly in keeping with Everton fans’ preferred adventurous style, is bold and some might say misguided.
Some banners were hung outside Goodison Park - one read “We know where you live, don’t sign” - in protest at the arrival of Benitez, who in 2007 called Everton a “small club.” The Spaniard thinks he can win the fans over but it seems there will always be some tension there. Winning silverware looks to be the only solution for Benitez but that looks way beyond Everton, which finished 10th in the Premier League last season and last captured a trophy in 1995. Some will say it’s a marriage destined for a divorce.