"Van Persie’s two-man replacement band of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Geroud fell well short of expectations against Sunderland"
Romilly Evans reviews the Premier League's opening day and advises against any knee-jerk reactions with the transfer window still open...
If you work hard, set lofty goals and dare to dream, you can still fall flat on your face. School mottos may rightly shun this as a maxim for classroom spirit. But I'm afraid, kids, it's a lesson which many of you will be forced to learn in later adulthood. Especially if you grow up to be a Premier League football manager.
Brendan Rogers was the latest candidate to be confronted by this gritty reality on Saturday when his Liverpool side, full of gleaming credentials and the promise of recent signings, began its current campaign in the worst possible fashion with a 10-man, 3-0 drubbing at the feet of West Brom. One minute they're livewire outsiders for outright honours, the next they're shunted out to 4645/1 to back.
However, this school of hard knocks and rude awakenings is seldom more exacting than on the first day of a new season. The opening weekend is dissected more keenly than a Booker Prize entry. But the truth is that early results are of little relevance in foreshadowing your final league position. Simply witness the early top-flight table which is headed by the combined might of Fulham and Swansea.
A follower of the Flat wouldn't scrumple up their betting slip if Frankel fluffed the gates. Similarly, even football's champion thoroughbreds may take a few games to find their strides. Or, more specifically, find their starting eleven. After all, the first transfer window is still open until August 31 and many teams - be they legitimate title challengers or not - are still to conclude their business.
Just ask Martin O'Neil whose Sunderland outfit rode their luck and a diligent work ethic to a goalless draw at The Emirates. "That was a good result for us, considering the line-up. Our team's still not in place and we're hoping to add new players to the squad in the coming days. Judge us in two weeks' time."
If the Black Cats are hoping to improve their fortunes at this late stage, what can we expect from Manchester City who have been relatively low-key in the purchasing period? That £12m lavished on Jack Rodwell looks like money well spent but is hardly breaking their bottomless bank. Roberto Mancini agrees and is in search of "three more first-team players" before September 1 deadline to keep pace with his spendthrift Manchester rivals.
Arsenal, for their part, will certainly have to stretch a few more purse strings if they are to achieve another Top Three finish in the league and it will have come as little surprise to fans and casual observers alike that the Gunners already look like a side that has just lost the most in-form striker in the world. Robin Van Persie was followed out the door at the weekend by the influential Alex Song (scarpering to Barcelona for £15m) but at least that frees up a combined £40m with which to acquire some new boys.
While Van Persie's two-man replacement band of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Geroud fell well short of expectations against Sunderland, there was still Santi Cazorla to stoke some creative embers of hope. Cazorla may soon be bolstered in midfield by Turkey's Nuri Sashin (potentially on loan from Real Madrid) but even he will likely need time to adapt to the speed and physicality of the Premier League.
Similar temporal tests will be asked of Chelsea's latest acquisitions from foreign fields (Belgium's Eden Hazard and the Brazilian Oscar), if the Blues are to morph from their lowest league position in the Abramovich era into the ready title contenders many commentators consider them to be. Tottenham, on the other hand, must endure another annual round of Keeping Luca Modric, before looking to provide their lone centre-forward, Jermain Defoe, with some much-needed cover.
In short, all is still to be determined and to be continued. And, in Week One of the Premier League, these acronyms of TBD and TBC are even more pertinent than RVP. So don't be too quick to deliver post-mortems or declare champions. Knee-jerk reactions are not the domain of conscious thought, but betting should be. Therefore, it could pay to wait for another week of fixtures and more information from the transfer window to better inform your long-term outlook.
I'm not about to advocate watching Sky Sports News on a continuous loop, as Rob Wotton waits in vain for a new signing to break the monotonous cycle of his repetitive autocue.
He works hard. He once dared to dream.
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