Six Best Things Not To Be Missed ! The Premier League Return
They always say that absence makes the heart grow fonder – and with every passing minute of the Premier League, we’re even more sure of it! With an absolute mountain of matches live on Sky Sports (Virgin TV 401), as well as plenty free-to-air on BBC (Virgin TV 108 and 109) and Sky One (Virgin TV 114), we’ve been enjoying a feast of football ever since the league kicked off again – and boy, how we missed it!
Mind, we always knew we’d missed The Beautiful Game, but some things have come as a surprise. There’s things that we took for granted, and probably never even thought about twice – and we now realise we couldn’t live without! Like what, we hear you ask? Try these six for starters…
DODGY DECISIONS
It took all of 42 minutes after the resumption of the Premier League for the first officiating clanger of the restart. Sheffield United thought they’d taken the lead against Villa – and, to be fair, they kinda did – but between the Hawk-Eye technology, referee Michael Oliver, and the VAR, nobody who matters seemed to notice. A kick in the teeth for the Blades? Of course. But for the viewer at home? It was a reminder that such controversies make the game what it is – and somehow make the whole thing more special!
MANAGERIAL PRESS CONFERENCES
For those of us in the real world, a boss sitting down and reading statistics to the room usually marks the start of another boring office meeting. When the boss involved is José Mourinho, however? That’s just fun! The Special One showed off his dubious maths (as well as a colossal chip on his shoulder) in taking Paul Merson to task over his criticism regarding Harry Kane – and we loved every last second of it. As José himself would say: not bad…
FIERY PUNDITS
Roy Keane could never be described as one of the sports cuddlier figures. But when he reacted with barely controlled fury at Manchester United’s defence – complete with the promise of throwing punches in the dressing room – we felt something that veered strangely towards a level of comfort. Like popping on a pair of snug, fluffy slippers. Yes, the world may have changed in the past few months – but as long as the boy Roy and his contemporaries are still bringing the heat, we’ll still feel right at home!
WHEELING AND DEALING
It’s the time of year when we’d normally be talking about summer transfers – and while there’s loads of action on the field, it turns out some old habits die hard! Whether it’s the confirmation of Timo Werner’s arrival at Stamford Bridge or Arsenal making a collection of moves (more on those later), we’re already well into the process of planning for next season. WIth the window open well into the autumn, there’s no great rush – but even a little taste of the typical action has whetted our appetites already!
“AND IT’S LIVE!”
If ‘I love you’ are the three most special words in the English language, then Martin Tyler’s traditional pre-match exclamation has to rank at the top of the terrific triplets list too. As Manchester City and Arsenal lined up at the Etihad on the first evening back, excitement was already at fever pitch; the enthusiastic bellowing of the voice of football was the icing on the cake! Oh, and we didn’t have to wait long for the cherry on top either...
DAVID LUIZ
A perennial source of entertainment for fans of any side he doesn’t play for, the Brazilian wasn’t in the starting line-up. Mid-way through the first half, though, he was wandering on to replace Pablo Mari with all the energy of a teenager asked to take the bins out. At fault for Raheem Sterling’s opener just before half-time, it took just four minutes after the restart for him to earn a red-card for pulling Riyad Mahrez, handing City a penalty and effectively ending the game as a contest. As 25 minute cameos go, this was one for the ages – and a timely reminder of the joys of Premier League football…
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