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Ed is online now answering your Premier League questions.
Key events
What are the main tactical changes this season?
trinder19 asks: Ed, great feature. What do you see as the main tactical changes in the Premier League this season? Do you see styles, tactics and approaches diverging more or less across the league?
Ed says: I think it’s a bit early to see any major changes but more generally there has been a bit of a shift away from controlling games by pure possession and a much more direct approach from many teams. Pep Guardiola’s style of play was so influential in the Premier League and beyond but even he went a bit more direct towards the end of his reign at City and lots of other teams have been trying to get the ball forward much earlier.
There’s also been even more emphasis on taking greater risks with pressing much higher up the pitch, as Brighton showed with their masterclass against Arsenal before the international break. But the arrival of so many new managers in the summer means that it will be interesting to see how the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City evolve as the weeks go on.
Is the greatness of the Premier League a myth?
chymist asks: When will the myth that the Premier League is ‘the best league in the world’ be finally put to rest?
Ed says: There were only five Premier League players shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or this year and that is an indication that most of the biggest stars in world football still play overseas. While English clubs have been dominating European competitions over the past few years with Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace all reaching finals last year, I think the attraction of playing for the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and these days Paris Saint-Germain outweighs the benefits of playing in the Premier League for many of the very best.
But there is no doubting that the overall level is far higher in England than anywhere else given the financial might of the Premier League that allows clubs to bring in and develop better players. You just have to look at results at the start of this season to see that anyone can beat almost anyone at the moment and that makes it a much better competition.
What are the implications of the Manchester City verdict for seasons prior to 2018?
Battiston asks: How likely is it, in your view, that there will be further charges in the Man City case relating to the period from 2018-2026? Is there the appetite for it from within football for one thing and is there a case to be made that the successes of the latter period are a direct result of the cheating from the period already covered?
stooze asks: What are your thoughts on 2018 to the present day if City’s guilty verdict is upheld? It seems to me that when City entered the 2018/19 season, they did so on the back of all the seasons that went before – indeed 14/15 of the same major players from 2017/18 were there in 18/19, even 21/22 (I highlight those years as a Liverpool man, but any after 2018 are valid) – so I just wondered if you foresee an eventual punishment that includes stuff after 2018?
Seems to me that it would be impossible to ignore/accept, if all the years that went before were built on ‘sham’ financial foundations. Any thoughts?
Ed says: Hello everyone and it’s an interesting place to start… It’s hard to argue against the premise that City’s success since 2018 was not built on the period for which they have been found guilty of so many charges, because it obviously had an enormous impact on their ability to sign new players given the increased revenue that generated. Would they have been able to sign Erling Haaland in 2022 from Borussia Dortmund without it, for example?
But the question of whether they could face more charges in future due to what some have called the “snowball effect” would of course depend on whether there is any evidence of any new breaches of the financial regulations in that period. And there is a strong possibility that the Premier League could revisit some of those figures given that City have been found guilty of so many charges between 2009 and 2018
As for whether there is an appetite for City to be investigated for the later period as well, I think that there is. Several clubs have already indicated that they would like retrospective punishments that could include them being stripped of their titles, with some arguing that the credibility of the Premier League would be lost if City were allowed to keep the eight major trophies they won between 2009 and 2018.
Ed is live
Ed is online now answering your Premier League questions.
Welcome to the conversation
It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks for our football reporters, but there’s only so much you can write about England’s 2-0 win in Prague …
Football writer Ed Aarons will be online at 3pm BST to answer any questions about the return of the Premier League. As well as what is likely to be a drama-filled visit to Anfield for Manchester City, Arsenal will be hoping to make up ground on City at the top of the table, while Manchester United and Spurs are hoping to kickstart their seasons.
Here are all this weekend’s games. Sign in or sign up to ask Ed a question.
Saturday (all times BST)
12:30 Arsenal v Leeds
15:00 Aston Villa v Brentford
15:00 Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth
15:00 Ipswich v Fulham
15:00 Sunderland v Brighton
17:30 Man Utd v Spurs
Sunday
14:00 Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest
14:00 Hull v Everton
16:30 Liverpool v Man City
Monday
20:00 Coventry v Newcastle
