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Make way for the new Premier League season. Manchester City have a title to defend on the pitch, and a reputation to defend off it.
Coming up:
Man City Vs Premier League
(Getty; Sebastian Frej/MB Media, Naomi Baker, Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA; design: Dan Goldfarb)
The season everything might change
Between the lines of Manchester City’s new fixture list is their biggest contest of the season. At some point between now and the end of the calendar year, the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League will be furnished with a verdict. A cause celebre is finally coming to a head.
It’s not a romantic way to sell 2024-25 but there’s no overstating the potential implications of this case, or the strength of feeling about it. In terms of the season’s place in history, the endgame could be defining.
The Premier League’s investigation into City began six years ago. A judge involved in it said it was a “matter of legitimate concern” that a resolution was taking so long — and those comments came in 2021. We won’t have to wait much longer for an outcome.
To recap quickly, City are accused of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018, a period that includes Pep Guardiola’s first two years as manager. City, who have also been accused of failing to cooperate fully with the inquiry, will vehemently contest all 115 allegations.
We’re talking about the most successful English club of the past decade; a team who have won 18 trophies under Guardiola, including six league titles. The first of those Premier League trophies was won in 2018.
The breadth of the alleged breaches is vast. Adam Crafton has done superb work explaining the detail and attitudes towards the charges here.
If City are found guilty, the Premier League’s handbook allows any form of punishment, including expulsion from the division.
The clamour for a verdict has been deafening for a while and even the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, thinks enough is enough.
Confidentiality means we’ve no exact date for a hearing — but we know an independent panel will sit before 2025.
So on the pitch, it’s City versus Arsenal for the title. Off the pitch, City’s legacy and reputation are at stake. Did they financially cheat their way from 2009 to 2018, as the Premier League believes? Or was City’s searing success legitimate and above board? An answer is coming, and not before time.
Is INEOS Good For Man Utd?
(Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb)
A seismic summer at Old Trafford
Old Trafford is where the season begins today, with Manchester United at home to Fulham (follow build-up and live updates here). It’s not only day one of the campaign but, in effect, ground zero for United’s minority shareholder, INEOS.
Competitive football will tell us if INEOS knows what it’s doing. There’s been no end of change since the firm bought shares in United, and key decisions will now undergo the stress test — the biggest of them the unconvincing retention of Erik ten Hag as manager.
The extent to which INEOS is backing itself is underlined by this nugget in Laurie Whitwell’s article today: United signed Leny Yoro from Lille in a deal worth £60m ($77m) despite knowing he was carrying a metatarsal issue. Yoro has since undergone surgery and is out for three months. But long term, INEOS executives believe the transfer will be vindicated.
Yoro was not United’s only investment and later, against Fulham, their fans should get a first glimpse of Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee. We wait to see if they make a positive difference. For Ten Hag’s sake, they have to.
Too Many Goals?
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Goals, wages and more complaints
Here’s a novel concept from The Athletic’s Michael Cox: using the musings of ex-Arsenal boss Herbert Chapman from a book published in 1934 to show that complaints about modern football are not so different to Chapman’s gripes about the sport.
Stripping players of individualism, like Guardiola with Jack Grealish? Chapman was bemoaning that trend in 1930s England too. And he criticised excessive wages paid to young prospects long before academy footballers were pocketing £20,000 a week. A man ahead of his time.
Another throwback to old-school football was the rising number of goals in the Premier League last season — a seriously sharp spike, shown in the graph above. Michael’s written about that too, pointing out that more goals don’t necessarily make football more entertaining. I’m inclined to think they don’t hurt.
One thing football didn’t have to fight about in 1934 was the VAR system. Take a deep breath as video replays prepare to darken our door again. Mind you, at least the authorities have rowed back on a suggestion that they might publish the club allegiances of individual referees, in the interests of transparency. What a terrible idea that would have been.
News Round-Up
Poch + USMNT = Perfect Match?
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Right move, right time?
Oli Kay has dug up a prescient quote from Mauricio Pochettino, given to Spain’s Radio Marca in 2022: “Football is timing. It’s about the moments that coincide, and then for that marriage to happen.”
Two years on, those comments apply perfectly to his pending appointment as the next USMNT head coach; the right move at the right time, for him and U.S. Soccer.
Oli’s been debating whether Pochettino accepting that job will work out. He’s right to say that the 52-year-old picked the wrong moments to say yes to Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. But Poch and the USMNT? I think it bears fruit.
Around The Athletic
Quiz Time
Brighton’s James Milner is set to appear in a record-breaking 23rd Premier League season. Ten other players have featured in 19 or more — name them.
Look here for the answer later today and in Monday’s newsletter.
Catch A Match
Today:
Manchester United vs Fulham (3pm ET/8pm BST)
Premier League. USA Network, Fubo, Sky Sports
Tomorrow:
Ipswich Town vs Liverpool (7.30am/12.30pm)
Premier League. USA Network, Fubo, TNT Sports
West Ham United vs Aston Villa (12.30pm/5.30pm)
Premier League. NBC, Peacock Premium, Sky Sports
Valencia vs Barcelona (3.30pm/8.30pm)
La Liga. ESPN+, Premier Sports 2
Sunday:
Chelsea vs Manchester City (11.30am/4.30pm)
Premier League. NBC, Fubo, Sky Sports
Mallorca vs Real Madrid (3.30pm/8.30pm)
La Liga. ESPN+, ITV4, Premier Sports 1
And Finally…
Anton Gaaei’s decisive penalty.
Sound on and take it all in! 🫨😍#UEL #ajapan pic.twitter.com/5ryMZFdWTN
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) August 15, 2024
Ajax beat Panathinaikos in Europa League qualifying last night. A penalty shootout ran to 34 takes and lasted for 28 minutes. Brian Brobbey missed twice. Ajax won it 13-12 and gave their celebrations big licks.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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