Hello all, and welcome to my very first (and hopefully not last) blog! I assume you have some questions, the first of which is likely to be “what is The Premier Post.” What a wonderful question with such a simple answer! The Premier Post is my gift to you. A gift that contains a breakdown of each successive week of soccer in the Premier League: a 20-team league with some of the best football (football will never refer to American football in this blog) and most talented players in the world. I hope that this blog inspires growth in your love of or appreciation for soccer. Expect to be doused in the Premier League’s latest happenings, major events, players and teams to watch, and rankings each and every week. Enough wasting time let’s get straight into Gameweek 2!
Gameweek 2 provided several electrifying matches, the most astounding of which was Brighton’s 4-1 win over the Wolverhampton Wolves; they are now 2/2 in scoring 4+ goals in a game this season. After performing well in last year’s season, Brighton looks to overthrow last year’s champion of the league, and juggernaut of Europe, Manchester City (as does every team in the league to be fair). Brighton midfielder, Solly March, already with three goals to his name, has been outstanding the first two games and will certainly be an issue for many teams if he remains a major threat.
Brighton currently sits at the top of the Premier League by goal differential, but both Arsenal and Manchester City are also undefeated (2-0-0). Being so early in the season, accurate, long-term predictions are deemed fictitious, however, it is objective to say that Brighton has shown the Bright-est through the first two weeks (sorry).
Arsenal, managed by Mikel Arteta, stands in third place after a valiant, rewarding effort against Crystal Palace this past Monday. The game was a nailbiter.
Immediately after the starting whistle blew, Arsenal charged forward with high intensity and vigor. They earned several goal-scoring opportunities, as well as a penalty, scored by midfielder Martin Odegaard, giving them up 1-0 edge in the 54th minute. With a second goal in their sights, disaster struck in the 67th minute. Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu received a second yellow card for wasting time by taking too long to throw in the ball. Though it was a very controversial decision, the second yellow meant a red card for Tomiyasu, forcing Arsenal to play a man down in the final 25 minutes of the game. With limited substitutions in the Premier League and fatigue creeping in, Arsenal found themselves on the backs of their heels for the remainder of the game. Crystal Palace created some very good chances, but a stellar defensive performance prevailed, and Arsenal moved to 2-0-0.
One of the teams to watch this year will be Newcastle United. Newcastle worked their way to the top spot of the league a few times last year but struggled offensively, falling off at the end of the season. That being said, they return this season with the same defense that was the best in the league last year, supported by a much more dangerous offense. They played well in Gameweek 1, winning 5-1 against Aston Villa but suffered a tight 1-0 loss to Manchester City this week. How far they journey will certainly depend on their offense, but I am interested to see how it unravels.
Looking forward to Gameweek 3! See you then! Current Standings.
As someone who knows almost nothing about football (I had only heard of Man City), this post was easy to follow. I feel like I should be picking one team to root for and stick to now– Newcastle United, maybe? I wonder what they’ve been able to chance about their offensive stance to come back from last season’s failure. Have they been able to bring in new players? I don’t know how the recruiting system works for soccer– is there a draft?
I would personally recommend rooting for Arsenal (as they are a solid team and also the team I root for), however, every team in the Premier League is a good option as they all have some amount of world class players and history. The system for “recruitment” in England is much better than it is here in the United States and more efficient for that matter. Put simply, each professional soccer club has younger and younger age groups that are within its management creating this massive pyramid of teams with different age groups at different levels. As you improve, you move up in the level for you age group and sometimes even up an age group until. The highest tier is academy and once you are old enough and deemed talented and well-prepared, the professional-level club will “recruit,” or bring you up to play for them. I think this is a much more seamless and organized process than what we have in the United States, and it would be interesting to see if the style of recruitment changes in the United States in the future.