The New York Times

Mauricio Pochettino believes that his Tottenham Hotspur team should be awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title because of Chelsea’s 74 breaches of financial rules.

Chelsea were fined £10million by the FA this summer, and given a suspended transfer ban, after admitting breaching agent regulations during the Roman Abramovich era, specifically regarding signing players between 2011 and 2018.

But there was no sporting sanction and Pochettino, who managed Tottenham to a second-placed finish behind Chelsea in 2016-17, believes that title should be stripped from Chelsea and re-awarded.

“I’ve said that we should win one title, one Premier League,” Pochettino told reporters. “We should have been awarded it. If that was true, and that happened, for sure we deserve to be champions for that year. Because we were the second best.”

Tottenham finished the 2016-17 campaign with the fewest defeats in the Premier League, and having scored the most goals and conceded the fewest, but ultimately seven points behind Antonio Conte’s Chelsea.

Chelsea’s new ownership found irregularities in the accounts during their purchase of the club in 2022 and self-reported to the authorities, and then admitted to the 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2. But Pochettino believes that Chelsea and Tottenham were fundamentally playing by different rules during the affected years.

“They were punished, they admitted (it), so that’s it,” Pochettino said. “The title should be for the team that was second. We didn’t compete with the same rules. OK, now we can say that they scored goals, they won games. But it’s completely fair to say that we didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card. Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could have signed some players that would have made the team better, or scored more goals. It’s not me complaining. It’s the truth.”

The FA’s case centres on millions of pounds of payments made to unregistered agents in connection with signings, including Eden Hazard, David Luiz and Nemanja Matic, all of whom were part of Chelsea’s title-winning side in 2016-17. Pochettino believes that Hazard may have made the difference that year.

“The Chelsea fans will be upset with me because I’m saying this,” said Pochettino, who managed Chelsea in the 2023-24 season. “But if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules, I would admit the same and say, ‘Look, we don’t deserve the title because we broke the rules’. It’s impossible if only some clubs play with offside and another plays with no offside. Or one plays with VAR and another plays with no VAR. No. For everyone, it needs to be the same rules, and the capacity to create the best team.”

Pochettino made clear that his issue was not with the players or coaches. “I don’t say that they did not play well. Conte, the coach, was great. I don’t want this message twisted. But if you broke the rules, in the moment, then ‘ciao’. You need to give it to another team.”

English football has traditionally been reluctant to strip titles in cases of wrongdoing but Pochettino believes this sends the worst possible message to clubs.

“What is being promoted and incentivised is to break the rules,” he said. “If you don’t punish the way that you need to punish, I say ‘yes, but I lost my job because we didn’t win the title.”

And Pochettino, who was sacked by Tottenham in November 2019 without winning anything, thinks that his work should be viewed differently in that context. “We were fighting with clubs (who worked) in a completely different way to us. I think we deserve more. We operated in a different way.”

For Mauricio Pochettino, it all comes down to human connections.

That is how he sees the world, sees football, and sees his own role in it. All of the best work of his career has been built on that foundation; making players work together, making fans believe in the team, trying to leave a legacy bigger than just wins and losses.

That is how Pochettino wants to look back at his summer, when he took the United States to the last 16 of their home World Cup, invigorating a football nation, before it all ended acrimoniously.

It is why Pochettino says he recommitted to the job, signing a new four-year contract, to repay the trust he feels from U.S. Soccer, and from the American public. There was some surprise in September 2024 — four months after he left Chelsea — when Pochettino was announced as the new head coach of the U.S. side. Before then all five of his jobs were in club football.

But he was recruited, after a huge effort by U.S. Soccer, to take the team into the World Cup. When Pochettino signed that contract, as he explained in detail to reporters in central London earlier this week, he knew that he was fully committed until after the tournament. He wanted to be a man of his word.

“When we gave our word to the federation, it was about starting and finishing, after the World Cup,” Pochettino said. “For us, it was impossible to think about coming back, or going to another club. Because we received some calls from different clubs. But we cannot go away. First, because we didn’t want to go. But in the moment I think it wasn’t right for us to create all these situations and expectations.”

Pochettino is determined to keep the good feelings from the summer going. It was because of that sense of trust and human connection that he decided, against expectations, to sign a new deal last month. It had widely been assumed he would return to the club game this summer instead.

“The one thing that changed our mind: the people,” Pochettino said. “The human beings in the federation.” Even before the World Cup kicked off, the U.S. Soccer board offered him a new deal as a sign of trust in his work. As Pochettino tells it, they respected the fact that he gave them his word and stayed, even when he was attracting interest from the club game. “This type of people, I like to be with them.” Even Pochettino did not expect to generate this much enthusiasm from players and fans, but now he wants to build on it.

Pochettino still clearly values his unique bond with Tottenham Hotspur fans, a relationship that means the world to him. But you can detect some of the same sense of pride when he talks about his bond with the fans Stateside. The way his team played in the World Cup, especially in those thrilling wins over Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia and Herzogovina, was integral to generating a sense of public momentum behind his team. Pochettino feels that his team helped to “change the view” of the American public, to feel that soccer is no longer “a boring game.”

“I think, through our messaging for nearly two years, people started to buy that this is completely different,” he said. “You can feel proud to be American, to show your flag, your country. It’s a sport that is about being brave. We started to provide them the possibility to see that sport in a different way. They started to see in a different way, they started to buy the idea. Amazing.”

The U.S. campaign ended in controversy and disappointment, though, with Folarin Balogun’s overturned suspension dominating the build-up to the last-16 game, in which Belgium was clearly the superior side. Pochettino denied again that it was why the U.S. lost. “What I don’t like is to put an excuse,” he said, “Belgium was much better.”

This is a delicate political matter, and Pochettino acknowledged that it was a “rare” and “unique” situation, but pointed out that this was not the only time FIFA overturned a suspension for this World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo got the same treatment, too.

But there is now a chance to start fresh, with plenty to play for over the next four years. There will be a Concacaf Gold Cup next year and potentially a Copa America the year after, which would help to fill the buildup to the 2030 World Cup. But Pochettino also made clear that while his first contract, leading up to this summer, was unbreakable, this situation is slightly different.

Simply put, there are circumstances under which he could leave between now and June 2030.

“Now it’s a four-year contract, it’s different,” Pochettino said. “We can next season lose the Copa America, or the Gold Cup, and they’re not happy with us, they can sack us. Or we can say ‘OK, it’s not the way that we think.’ Four years is different. Maybe now if someone calls in the future, it’s a different type (of situation). We are excited, we are thinking to spend four years, to the next World Cup. But now it’s a long period.”

But before any of that, Pochettino is ready for the USMNT’s four high-interest friendlies this forthcoming international break, against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada. It already feels very different from Pochettino’s start in the job, when it was a struggle to always get U.S. fans into home games. But this was always part of the attraction, “to make history, to change football there.”

After so much time working in club football, this is why the international game is so appealing. “It’s more pure,” Pochettino said, because the players are more motivated and less distracted. “The players are not toxic, they come because they want to enjoy, they want to enjoy, they don’t have time to become upset or disappointed.” And for Pochettino, who sees himself as a manager born in an analogue era, now working in a digital one, it allows him to build those human relations, to work on the chemistry of football, that means so much to him.

While Pochettino and his staff were working hard to prepare the U.S. for the World Cup, Tottenham, the club closest to his heart, was in crisis. The appointment of Thomas Frank had not worked and Spurs were, in the winter and spring of last season, heading for relegation. For many fans, Pochettino was the saviour, the king over the water, and his name was often sung last season, including during Frank’s final game, a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United in February.

There have been various points in recent years when it felt as if a Pochettino return to Tottenham might happen. Perhaps the closest was in May 2021, when there was a push at Spurs to bring him back, only for PSG to say no, just six months after Pochettino started there. Then two years later, after Pochettino had left PSG but before he signed for Chelsea, there was plenty of public enthusiasm for him to return, but no approach from Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. And then most recently earlier this year, when Pochettino says that he got a call about the Tottenham job, but at a moment when his full focus was on the World Cup. There was never any prospect of his walking out before the tournament.

“The problem was that the timings were never the best,” Pochettino said. “When I was free, I never received a contact. And then when I was working, I received a contact, but I cannot make the decision to come back. It was a little bit unlucky. Maybe one day the stars will align, and it can happen. But the problem was that when we wanted and we were free, we didn’t receive the approach. When we were working, we received the approach.”

In the end, Spurs sacked Frank in February, tried and failed to get Roberto De Zerbi, appointed Igor Tudor and then sacked him when De Zerbi became persuadable to take the job. And the only way to get someone of De Zerbi’s calibre was with a five-year contract. “They were under pressure to bring another coach, to give him the possibility to stay for a long period like happened with De Zerbi,” Pochettino explained. “It was an obvious situation.”

Pochettino joked that there was nothing special about him getting a call. “In this moment they called everyone, they called all the coaches! Free and not free!” But when De Zerbi signed that deal in March, the prospect of Pochettino taking over even after the World Cup was gone. But Pochettino leaves no doubt that he would have been delighted to take over had he not been committed to the U.S. “If I was free, of course I come,” he said. “But I wasn’t free, I was preparing for the World Cup.”

During this period of uncertainty there was a question about what Spurs would do if they were relegated, and who might manage them in the Championship. In the end it remained a hypothetical. But Pochettino does not mind this sort of speculation, and he jumped at the chance to clear it up. So would he have taken it in the second tier? “Yes of course,” he said. “It’s the only club that always I am open to help. Whatever division. Another club, no. But Tottenham, yes.”

Clearly that connection for Pochettino is as strong as ever. (That in part is why he believes that Tottenham ought to be awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title, given Chelsea’s breaches of rules over payments between 2009 and 2022.) But he also knows Tottenham is a very different place from the club he left in 2019. In part because Levy, who ran everything at Spurs throughout Pochettino’s tenure, was dismissed one year ago. Pochettino and Levy are still close. And so it was with genuine kindness rather than any schadenfreude that Pochettino said that Levy must now know what it is like to be sacked, with the sudden switch-off that implies.

“Now he knows the feeling,” Pochettino said. “The way that I felt in this moment, that we felt, you receive the letter, you are sacked, pick up your things and you can never come back. And the people, maybe 200, 300 people that were your family, you cannot say goodbye, you cannot send a text, you cannot do nothing. That was really, really tough for me. I was talking with him about that. Of course I am not happy that now he feels the same. Because I am not a person who has bad feelings. I am so sorry for him and for everyone.”

The post-Levy changes at Tottenham led to the club embarking on their boldest transfer window, spending more money on fees and wages this summer than ever before. It is a far cry from the era during which Pochettino worked, when Tottenham famously did not sign a single player in the 2018 summer window. But Pochettino’s love for Tottenham, his enthusiasm for them to do well, means that he is pleased that De Zerbi has this opportunity to build the team that he wants.

“I am happy if Tottenham now have the possibility to spend and to bring proven players, who have already played in the Premier League,” he said. “It’s good for the club. Because after the last two or three years, what the club is trying to find, is to improve, and not suffer. Now it’s about performing. I am happy because I feel Tottenham. It’s still my club and I want the best for them. And if that happens, it’s good. I’d be so happy for the fans and for the people.”

Tottenham Hotspur loanee Mykhailo Mudryk has suffered an ankle injury in training and is expected to be sidelined until after the September international break.

Spurs signed the Ukrainian on a season-long loan from rivals Chelsea on summer transfer deadline day and he made his first competitive appearance in 646 days as a substitute in their 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

But Mudryk’s chances of settling quickly in north London have been dealt a blow after he picked up an ankle injury in training.

The 25-year-old is expected to be sidelined until after the internationals, which would rule him out of Tottenham’s home league games against Everton and Aston Villa, which fall either side of the Carabao Cup third-round tie at Liverpool.

Mudryk had not played competitively since November 2024 when he joined Spurs, having been banned for 20 months for breaching the Football Association’s (FA) doping rules.

On July 31, a resolution between the FA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was reached over an anti-doping violation, allowing Mudryk to return to club training and selection.

The 25-year-old had to train away from all Chelsea facilities on his own during that 20-month period, having returned an adverse finding in a urine sample. He was provisionally suspended and then handed a four-year ban by the FA in April this year, a verdict he lodged an appeal against to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Spurs are currently without forwards Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons, who are recovering from anterior cruciate ligament injuries, while James Maddison has missed the last two matches with a shoulder complaint. Richarlison has been left out of the club’s Premier League squad.

But Dejan Kulusevski is back in full training in a boost to head coach Roberto De Zerbi, while the club boosted their forward options with the signings of Savio and Omar Marmoush from Manchester City during the window.

What does this mean for Mudryk and Spurs?

It’s a frustrating start to life in north London for Mudryk, who Tottenham recruited on deadline day to provide depth at left wing.

Mudryk was signed to compete with Mathys Tel on the left of De Zerbi’s attack, after Spurs were beaten to the signing of Iliman Ndiaye by Manchester City.

Having not played competitive football since scoring in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Heidenheim in the Conference League in November 2024, there was an acceptance that it would take Mudryk a while to get up to speed, but after De Zerbi handed him an opportunity from the bench against Nottingham Forest on the weekend, it suggested the Italian, who coached Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk, was willing to fast-track his involvement with the team.

While the Ukraine international did not make much of an impact in his short cameo from the bench against Forest, he did provide a slight glimmer of what he could offer De Zerbi’s side from the left this season, winning a free-kick on the edge of the box after dribbling past his marker.

His injury leaves De Zerbi slightly short of left-wing options, with Tel, whom the coach said “takes too many wrong decisions”, competing with Omar Marmoush for a starting spot.

As for Mudryk, it represents yet another frustrating setback. He will have undoubtedly harboured ambitions of returning to the Ukraine national team over the international break, but this injury will prevent that.

And with Tottenham preparing to travel to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup next week — a game he could have been in line to start or play significant minutes in — he will have to wait longer than planned to make a real impact in Spurs colours.

However, with just two league games remaining before the extended international break, Mudryk has time without a run of matches to recover.

In his post-match press conference after his Tottenham Hotspur side were convincingly beaten by Brentford on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season, with the home side scoring their final goal of a 3-0 win from a corner, Roberto De Zerbi brushed off the suggestion that set pieces and a lack of physicality in the team would be a persistent concern beyond that game.

“Listen, Brentford, in set pieces, are maybe the best team in the Premier League,” the Italian said. “So it’s normal to suffer. I think we suffer(ed) more in the duels, more in the second ball, than in the set pieces.”

A week later, in Tottenham’s first home fixture of the campaign, Newcastle United got their second goal of a 2-0 win from a corner. Like at Brentford’s Gtech Stadium, Spurs failed to win with the first contact from a deep corner, allowing the ball to be headed across their penalty area to an unmarked Yoane Wissa, who acrobatically converted past Antonin Kinsky.

These moments represent a marked departure from last season, when set pieces were one of the few things Tottenham consistently did well.

Set-pieces coach Andreas Georgson was the mastermind behind their effectiveness from dead-ball situations, with the club scoring 19 of their 48 league goals via that route — the highest percentage in the Premier League (39.6 per cent). Spurs were also incredibly effective at keeping sides out from them, finishing second to Arsenal in set-piece goals conceded (nine). At just 15.8 per cent of the total (nine of 57), they were also the division’s best defence from set pieces relative to their total number of goals conceded.

The 0-0 draw away to Nottingham Forest on matchday three at the weekend was a step in the right direction in the wider sense, keeping a clean sheet and earning their first point of the season, but Tottenham remain ineffective in both boxes in set-piece situations.

As spoils of their territory and possession, the visitors won 10 corners but created just one chance, an awkward Micky van de Ven header from close range which he could not direct goalwards. With last season’s squad, a team in which strength and power in both midfield and defence were not in short supply, Spurs would typically have fashioned more from these opportunities.

In recruiting players to execute De Zerbi’s style over the summer, they have lost an edge in the physicality department — a potential flaw when you consider the Premier League today is perhaps more physical than it has been since the turn of the century.

Tottenham’s local north London rivals Arsenal became Premier League champions in May on the back of their set-piece dominance, while last season’s second- and third-placed sides Manchester City and Manchester United have both spent big since to solidify their midfields with athletes.

Of the 10 players Spurs recruited in the transfer window just ended, it’s difficult to argue that any have a stellar reputation for their aerial ability, including Tosin Adarabioyo and Jan Paul van Hecke, despite them being centre-backs listed as 6ft 5in (195cm) and 6ft 2in (188cm) tall, respectively.

While De Zerbi references Brentford as an almost-unique case regarding aerial and set-piece capability, a glance down the table leaves you wondering if any other clubs have not been built their teams with dead-ball situations in mind.

Tottenham fielded the fifth-shortest starting XI in the Premier League at the weekend (an average of 183.1 cm — just over 6ft), but height is far from the only factor.

Club captain Cristian Romero departed for Atletico Madrid in the summer, having been among Spurs’ best players in both boxes over recent seasons; Joao Palhinha scored five Premier League goals during his year on loan from Bayern Munich, including the decisive one in the 1-0 win against Everton on the final day — he is now at Benfica; Richarlison netted 11 times in the Premier League, and was often the man positioned to make the first contact at defensive corners and other set pieces; then head coach Ange Postecoglou hailed Kevin Danso as a player who “enjoys the whacks”, and the Austrian defender described himself as a “warrior” after signing for Sunderland on deadline day last week.

These players were arguably Tottenham’s most dominant physical profiles and headers of the ball last term. All are now either gone or, in Richarlison’s case, unavailable in the Premier League, having been left out of De Zerbi’s official squad.

His team selection against Forest suggests the head coach is cognizant of Tottenham’s declining effectiveness as a set-piece animal.

Conor Gallagher was a surprise pick in the starting XI, preferred to £85million summer signing Mateus Fernandes, with De Zerbi referencing how he knows English football better and that he was aiming to find the “right balance” in the team. The day before, De Zerbi namechecked Gallagher as a player who can help his team from a set pieces and physicality perspective.

“We have the centre-backs with physicality,” he said. ”Listen, to defend the set pieces, first of all, you have to have blood and the right speed to defend. Because, sometimes, it’s the duel. You have not to lose all duels because you are smaller than the opponent. We have Allan Dixon (the club’s beefy player liaison officer). We put Allan Dixon in the set pieces on the pitch, if you want?

“But I think if you do not have the spirit to fight in duels — this part makes the difference. Also, the structure, the physicality, for sure. But we have Van Hecke, Van de Ven, (Destiny) Udogie, (Rodrigo) Bentancur and (Dominic) Solanke (as options). Gallagher is very good in the set pieces. Why? Because he fights.”

But perhaps falling short in some areas, at least in the early stages of De Zerbi’s rebuild, is an inevitable trade-off as he prioritises others.

Notably, Spurs amassed 10 corners against Forest, something they did in the league only four times last season before his appointment at the end of March (the fifth and final occasion was in the 1-1 draw with Leeds United in May), reflecting how they are improving in sustaining pressure in the opposition team’s half.

In a standout display, Bentancur was at the heart of everything good about Tottenham at the City Ground, bringing a maturity and tactical discipline to the midfield. And with the aforementioned outgoings, the Uruguay international is also probably Tottenham’s best player in the air now, rendering him near-undroppable.

Another of the newcomers, Sandro Tonali, was improved, looking closer to the athletic level required to play in the Premier League than he did against Brentford, and Spurs are now stacked with talent, if potentially a little short on evidence of Premier League production, in the final third.

In transitioning the team from physical to technical, De Zerbi is, in theory, raising the ceiling.

Last season, set pieces propped the floor up just above the relegation precipice. To keep it there, he may have to divert more attention to ensuring the 2026-27 version of Tottenham have the robustness to compete in what’s become a hyper-physical Premier League.

This summer Tottenham Hotspur bought Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal that could be worth £100m ($133m) and Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United for £85m. In January, they saw off competition to sign Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid for £34m. Last summer they bought Xavi Simons — currently recovering from a knee injury — from RB Leipzig for £51.8m to play as the No 10.

A lot of money, then, has been thrown at the Tottenham midfield conundrum over the past year or so, not just in fees but in salaries to attract these players to the club.

And yet right now it feels as if perhaps the most important midfielder, the one who has to play, is someone who has been at the club far longer.

It was Rodrigo Bentancur who got the most fulsome praise from Roberto De Zerbi on Saturday evening after Spurs had emerged from the trip to Nottingham Forest with a 0-0 draw, their first point and first clean sheet of the league season. “Great game, great game,” De Zerbi said of the Uruguayan, who had just made his third consecutive start and given his best performance of the season.

Over the course of the afternoon, Bentancur had shown again that Tottenham do not have anyone quite like him in the middle of the pitch. His awareness, understanding and ability to read the game faster than anyone else, was integral to Spurs stopping Forest from attacking through the middle.

That special sense he has, that picture in his head, also makes Bentancur integral when Tottenham have the ball and are trying to move it forward. There is no one better at showing for the ball, receiving a pass to feet from the centre-backs and, under pressure, bouncing it first time out to a full-back. (Remember when Spurs went to Forest last season, Archie Gray took an extra touch in precisely that position, Ibrahim Sangare stole the ball and Forest went 1-0 up.)

The fascinating thing about Bentancur’s role right now is that at the start of the season fans might not have expected him to play such an important part. The expectation was that Tonali and Fernandes would be first choice in the middle of the pitch, with Gallagher likely to continue in the No 10 role he held at the end of last season. Spurs turned down big money for Lucas Bergvall this summer, but given that they decided to keep him, he was set for a prominent role too. James Maddison, who recovered enough from a knee injury to play at the end of last season, has also been knocking at the door.

But as De Zerbi has tried to find the right combination so far this season, he has turned to Bentancur three times out of four. At Brentford on the opening day, it was Tonali, Bergvall and Gallagher, but those three were unable to cope with the physicality of their hosts. It was only when Fernandes and Bentancur came on that Spurs got any sort of foothold, but they were already out of the game.

So when Spurs hosted Charlton Athletic in the League Cup, Bentancur came in, anchoring for Bergvall and Fernandes to get forward. And — against a much-changed Championship side — they comfortably won 5-1. Bentancur then kept his place for the Newcastle game, alongside Tonali and Fernandes, when Spurs started well but were unable to sustain it and were eventually picked off to lose 2-0. And then again on Saturday, with Tonali and Gallagher.

Of course, at this stage of the season it is only natural there will be some rotation, some experimentation, as De Zerbi tries out new players and different combinations, attempting to find the right balance in the middle of the pitch. This is a fairly new team after all. At the same time, no one is better suited to the anchoring job, the role that allows other players to shine, than Bentancur. It almost feels as if the formula is Bentancur plus two others, at least until they have more attacking options at No 10.

But maybe this should not be so much of a surprise. Bentancur has made himself one of the great survivors of this Spurs squad. Behind the unique Ben Davies, now into his 13th season at the club, Bentancur is the joint longest-serving outfield player. He arrived at the end of the January 2022 transfer window, Fabio Paratici picking him and Dejan Kulusevski up on the cheap from Juventus (Bentancur only cost £15m, Kulusevski joined on an 18-month loan that was made permanent in 2023).

We are not far from the fifth anniversary of Bentancur’s arrival, and over that time he has made 151 Spurs appearances. Remember that he started off as half of the two-man engine room for Antonio Conte, driving Spurs towards their last top-four finish in his first few months at the club. He missed most of 2023 with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and when he came back, found himself playing a very different style under Ange Postecoglou. But he became an integral player again during Postecoglou’s second season, anchoring the team during the injury crisis, starting six of Spurs’ seven Europa League knockout games. He was as important as anyone in lifting the trophy in Bilbao, again showing the value of his experience and awareness in those huge games at the end of the season.

And even last year, Bentancur started the season playing alongside Joao Palhinha for Thomas Frank, with people wondering whether those two together could ever make the team progressive enough in the middle of the pitch. Bentancur missed three months in the middle of the season with a hamstring injury and yet when he returned, his value to the group was clearer than ever. And it was with Bentancur and Palhinha reunited in the middle for the final games that Spurs stayed up. The same nous and game intelligence that helped to lift the Europa League contributed to keeping Spurs in the Premier League in 2026.

There may always be midfield options who excite people more, who are more eye-catching or faster or more incisive. Yet Bentancur has found time and time again over the past five years that managers usually want him on the pitch. So many of his former team-mates have left the club in the intervening period and yet the 29-year-old remains, one of the last links to an era that has been moved away from at pace. Until anyone else can match his experience and football brain, he will remain as important as ever.

Tottenham Hotspur drew 0-0 at Nottingham Forest, registering their first point of the Premier League season.

Spurs had chances to win the game, with Omar Marmoush’s effort in the first half, which he dragged wide of Matz Sels’ post, the outstanding opportunity. Forest had chances of their own, with the crowd incensed at referee Craig Pawson and VAR Peter Banks after they ruled out a Neco Williams goal for a handball offence.

The Athletic’s Elias Burke assesses the action…

When will Tottenham’s attack click?

Tottenham’s trip to the City Ground was both a meaningful step in the right direction and a painful missed opportunity.

Spurs were impressive in the first period, without threatening Matz Sels’ goal — a trend across the match, with Tottenham failing to register a shot on target in the 90 minutes. Marmoush really should have, though, after he was played in on goal by Pedro Porro, but the Egypt international dragged his shot wide. He had another opportunity in the second period, but fired wildly over.

Despite spending big on attacking reinforcements, the attack is still yet to click. Part of that is rustiness, with Savio’s pre-season preparations interrupted by the transfer saga, and Marmoush yet to build chemistry with a bunch of forwards who have spent time on the sidelines. It is up to De Zerbi to address that, and it will take time, though it’s hard to see Marmoush receiving passes in the build-up with bigger defenders in close pursuit as a sustainably effective tactic. It marks the first time they haven’t scored in the first three league games since 1974.

However, Tottenham did keep their first clean sheet of the season, and the issues relating to mentality, lack of aggressiveness, and fitness did not rear their ugly heads. Sandro Tonali delivered his most convincing performance in midfield yet, covering ground, tackling well, and driving attacks forward in transition. At the same time, the defence marshalled Liam Delap, and later Igor Jesus, well.

But Forest are in transition under Oliver Glasner too, and Tottenham had opportunities to make their territory pay, but did not manage it. De Zerbi should be pleased enough about a performance which could have easily resulted in a win, but there is still much to be done.

How was Savio on his Premier League debut for Spurs?

Tottenham fans have had to wait a week longer than expected to see Savio in the Premier League, after he was sidelined with minor muscle fatigue for last week’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United.

Anticipation of Savio in a Tottenham shirt had been building throughout the summer, with the Brazil international making no secret of his intention to join Roberto De Zerbi’s ranks this summer, seemingly liking and commenting on almost every post in relation to the north London club on social media. The excitement was ratcheted up another notch after his impressive cameo in the 5-1 Carabao Cup win against Charlton, where he came off the bench and scored, before inadvertently setting up another for team-mate Ben Davies.

And his first league outing for Spurs was promising. The right wing position has been a major issue for Tottenham since Mohammed Kudus went down with a hamstring injury in January. De Zerbi resorted to using natural striker Randal Kolo Muani and midfielder Conor Gallagher in that position, and the fit looked awkward at best. Without truly threatening Sels’ goal or creating any outstanding opportunities, it was apparent Savio is a natural and accomplished winger with pace and trickery, capable of hurting the opposition.

It was an encouraging debut from the 22-year-old before he was replaced near the hour mark by Kudus, but there’s surely a lot more to come.

Are Spurs lacking a true No 10?

De Zerbi has something of a midfield dilemma.

The Italian has frequently employed a 4-2-3-1 formation throughout his coaching career, and did so to good effect last term as he navigated Tottenham away from the drop. This season, however, his midfield options may work better in a different configuration.

For the second week running, De Zerbi has opted for Rodrigo Bentancur to partner Sandro Tonali in midfield, with one of Mateus Fernandes or Conor Gallagher operating ahead as a No 10. This week, Gallagher got the nod, but the issues with a lack of creativity and central progression persisted.

While De Zerbi has talked up Gallagher’s capabilities as a No 10 and noted Fernandes started his career at Sporting Club of Portugal as an advanced midfielder, neither player is a natural in that position. Kudus can also play there, but has played more frequently as a wide player in the Premier League. So while De Zerbi awaits the inclusion of James Maddison, who may take a while to get up to speed to start games after missing most of pre-season, and the return of Xavi Simons from an ACL injury sustained in April, perhaps Spurs will find more penetration in midfield with either Gallagher or Fernandes dropping slightly deeper. This could allow them to get on the ball and feed an attack with the talent to receive passes between the lines.

What did De Zerbi say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for Spurs?

Sometimes a ‘big’ signing isn’t enough. If you are Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi, teasing a “bomba” signing is what gets fans excited. Or how about acquiring an “alpha” target?

This summer’s transfer window saw an unprecedented £3.5billion ($4.7bn) spent by Premier League teams, and with this lavish spending has come a new terminology for transfers.

Teams were “foodchained” as there was plenty of business between Premier League clubs, while one side entered a “2.0” era.

Let’s dissect some of the jargon that defined this bonkers summer 2026 transfer window.

Foodchained

Foodchained is usually when a player leaves to join a ‘bigger’ club, or one with greater pull and financial power.

The term is of course patronising, and is often used humorously on football X, but this summer it has definitely caught on, and has been used to describe moves by the likes of Morgan Rogers, Sandro Tonali, Carlos Baleba and Bruno Guimaraes to the Premier League’s big six.

But ‘Big Six’ teams also have their own hierarchy. It would be fair to say Manchester City ‘foodchained’ Tottenham Hotspur to sign Iliman Ndiaye, after the player preferred to join Enzo Maresca’s team when both clubs reached an agreement with Everton.

Not every transfer counts. Take a backup goalkeeper transfer or the offloading of an unpopular/underperforming player. The term works best when the player on the move is important to their team, perhaps a fan favourite, but has buckled at the idea of joining (insert ‘bigger’ club).

Bomba

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi delivered a memorable line this summer when he told reporters in late July that Spurs were working on a “bomba” signing. This was at the height of Tottenham’s excitement in the transfer window, after they had just splashed club-record fees on Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

The Italian described a “bomba” as a “top player”.

“I think Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Senesi, Robertson are bomba,” he said. “For me, top player for us.” Bomba in Italian literally means a bomb, making a big bang with a signing.

Spurs later signed Savio, but was he the anticipated “bomba”? Could it have been Omar Marmoush or Tosin Adarabioyo? Or even Mykhailo Mudryk?

Alpha target

If signing a “bomba” doesn’t get you excited, how about an “alpha” target?

One Newcastle United insider described their €60million (£51.4m, $69.6m) deadline-day signing of Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille as their “alpha” target. The 21-year-old forward scored eight goals in 29 Ligue 1 appearances last season.

Speaking in normal terms, this means Newcastle had tracked Fernandez-Pardo over the long term and would have moved for him sooner, but believed the player was unattainable.

Let’s hope Newcastle are not deep in the manosphere, but rather fans of the Greek alphabet — of which alpha is the first letter.

Re-hijack

Sunderland completed the €30million (£25.8m; $34.9m) signing of Lyon forward Malick Fofana on deadline day.

It wasn’t without jeopardy, as they had to ‘re-hijack’ their own deal.

After Sunderland had initially agreed a fee with Lyon, Crystal Palace tried to hijack the move and struck a deal with the French club.

Palace’s new manager, Pierre Sage, coached Lyon between 2023 and 2025 and called his former player Fofana on Tuesday morning in an attempt to convince him to move to south London instead. In response, Sunderland upped their offer to the player and agent.

With time running out to get the deal done, both clubs agreed to sanction a joint medical and sent private jets to France, awaiting transport for the player to either London or the north east.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, the chairman and majority owner of Sunderland, also flew to Lyon to meet with the player.

The decision came down to Fofana’s preference, and the 21-year-old Belgium international informed Sunderland of his intention to sign with them at 9pm on Tuesday, allowing the club to submit a dealsheet before the 11pm deadline.

Need a positive spin for a complete reshuffle of your team in one window? Try calling it ‘2.0’.

Newcastle might have lost several of their key players this summer, including Tonali, Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon, and become frustrated at missing out on targets to other clubs. But the result is not a reduced side. It is “Newcastle 2.0”, according to CEO David Hopkinson.

They have had an impressive start in the Premier League and look to have a clear identity under new head coach Matthias Jaissle, targeting hungry young players in the transfer window.

Yes, the club has existed since 1881 and so has undoubtedly had more than two changes of style before. But the optics of rebranding the team as Newcastle 2.0, under ownership which joined in 2021, seem to have helped keep morale high during the hectic transfer window.

Aston Villa, who have signed 10 players after losing the core of their Europa League-winning side, have instead called it a “new generation” for their club.

Richarlison has been left out of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League squad.

The striker was told before the Premier League transfer deadline that he would not be included in their squad so he could find a new club.

Richarlison joined Spurs from Everton in July 2022 in a deal worth up to £60million. The Brazil international has under a year left on his contract and his future has been unclear throughout the summer.

He made 32 top-flight appearances last season and was the club’s top goalscorer with 11. However, head coach Roberto De Zerbi revealed on Tottenham’s pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand last month that Richarlison “sometimes wants to leave.”

The centre-forward started their opening game of the season which was a 3-0 defeat to Brentford but Spurs then signed Omar Marmoush from Manchester City on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy.

The 29-year-old was an unused substitute in the 5-1 victory over Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup and was left out of the matchday squad completely for last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United. Marmoush started upfront against Newcastle and Dominic Solanke came off the bench in the second half.

After the loss to Newcastle, De Zerbi said he did not include Richarlison among the substitutes, along with Kevin Danso and Pape Matar Sarr, because he “said too many times he wants to leave.” Danso and Sarr joined Sunderland and Juventus respectively.

Spurs reached an agreement in principle with Everton on Sunday to sign Iliman Ndiaye and for Richarlison to return to his former club in separate deals. Ndiaye preferred a move to Manchester City as they could offer him Champions League football, while Richarlison could not agree personal terms with Everton.

Richarlison addressed speculation on social media on Monday, saying “never again will anyone decide my future for me”.

The Athletic reported on Wednesday that Turkish side Trabzonspor had made an offer for the centre-forward. English clubs can no longer sign players but the Turkish transfer window does not close until Friday.

Each club has to submit a list of 25 senior players (over the age of 21) to the Premier League. This list must include at least eight ‘home grown’ players. Clubs can make changes following the winter transfer window.

Richarlison has been left out while Xavi Simons has been included. Xavi suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in April and is unlikely to play again until 2027. Wilson Odobert, who suffered an ACL tear of his own in February, has also been included in the squad and is now noted as a homegrown player, which Premier League sides are required to have eight of in a 25-player squad.

Mathys Tel, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray do not need to be registered as they are on the Under-21s list.

‘The right time to move on’

When Richarlison realised he was not going to come off the bench in last week’s 5-1 victory over Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup, he kicked a ball on the touchline and ripped off some tape on his fingers. The forward’s frustration was clear to see.

Richarlison has worked under five different head coaches at Spurs and never felt like the perfect fit for any of them. Despite his decent goalscoring record, there are clear weaknesses in Richarlison’s game and Omar Marmoush represents a significant upgrade.

It is a brutal decision to leave him out of the Premier League squad, especially because Xavi Simons has been included but is unlikely to be fully fit until next year, yet he would not get in the starting XI over Marmoush and Dominic Solanke.

The 29-year-old was given one last chance in the opening day defeat to Brentford. Richarlison’s inability to hold the ball up under pressure from Kristoffer Ajer directly led to Keith Andrews’ side scoring their second goal.

Spurs have never really seen the best of Richarlison during his four years in north London due to a series of injuries. He did score an important goal in a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa last season which helped Spurs to avoid relegation. Richarlison played a key role in the latter stages of the Europa League on the left wing and started the final against Manchester United. Supporters will always fondly remember him for his role in ending the 17-year trophy drought.

Richarlison will go down as a cult hero. He wore his heart on his sleeve but the time is right to move on. A reunion with Everton would have made sense for all parties but now he needs to hope a deal can be agreed with Turkish side Trabzonspor otherwise he will spend the next few months in the reserves.

Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor have made an unsuccessful attempt to sign Richarlison in the past 24 hours.

After their failed effort, it is not clear whether Trabzonspor will make a further attempt to bring in the 29-year-old. While the transfer deadline in England has passed, Turkish clubs are able to buy players until Friday, September 4.

Richarlison faces an uncertain future at Tottenham, having previously requested to leave the club. The signing of Omar Marmoush on loan from Manchester City has pushed the Brazilian further down the pecking order, with his playing time under Roberto De Zerbi looking increasingly scarce. He was left out of Spurs’ squad for the 2-0 defeat by Newcastle United on Saturday.

In late August, before Tuesday’s deadline, Tottenham agreed a deal with Everton that would have seen the forward return to the club he left in 2022. Ultimately, he declined the personal terms on offer, before making a series of cryptic remarks on Instagram.

“After everything I’ve been through in the last few years, I’ve decided that never again will anyone decide my future for me,” Richarlison wrote. “I went through a lot of bad things, and almost all of them happened because decisions were made by other people. Pressure, threats, retaliation — none of that scares me. I’ve been through far worse, believe me.”

Richarlison has one year remaining on his Tottenham contract, having joined from Everton in the summer of 2022. He was Spurs’ top scorer in the Premier League with 11 goals.

Welcome to week two of the Premier League performance table — the sort of ranking system that the Crystal Palace head coach Pierre Sage refuses to take any comfort from.

In case you missed week one, this isn’t the official Premier League table, where results are the be-all and end-all.

In our performance table, there’s a clean slate at the start of each gameweek, which means you can go from top to bottom (and vice versa) in the space of seven days, with the 1-20 rankings based purely on how well each team played in their last match.

How do we decide that? By watching every Premier League game in full across the last four days, dissecting where it went right and wrong, and arguing with a teenage son at the end of it all about the reason for Brentford being above Chelsea.

If there was angst last week about Fulham deserving to be higher after an entertaining 3-2 defeat against Chelsea, there’s no such concern on the back of their miserable display at Sunderland.

Other teams in this gameweek were far trickier to judge, in particular Brighton, who were part of a wild seven-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge.

If nothing else, the summaries below provide you with a weekly snapshot of each team’s performance in the 2026-27 Premier League. And, naturally, you’ll be in full agreement with each and every word, given that it’s a totally subjective process.

Crystal Palace 1-4 Manchester City

T​wo ​trademark goals for Erling Haaland, two for Rayan Cherki, and two assists for Phil Foden. This was City playing with confidence, control and, in the case of Cherki, swagger.

If Cherki was poor before the interval (the Frenchman chose a different word, which requires asterisks, to describe his first-half performance), he was sensational after the break, especially with his Ricky Villa-esque solo goal.

Elsewhere, Elliot Anderson did what Elliot Anderson does — passed smartly and walked away with the out-of-possession man-of-the-match award — Nico O’Reilly played with a mix of brains and brawn (hope Anan Khalaili is OK after bouncing off the City midfielder in the first half; likewise Daichi Kamada after the nutmeg), Marc Guehi reverted to type (a class centre-back) after his brief stint as a No 6, and it was good to see Foden smiling again — even if his manager Enzo Maresca confirmed what we said last week: he’s not a right-winger.

Manchester United 5-2 Ipswich Town

For the first 40 minutes or so, Ipswich made United look distinctly ordinary. But then Michael Carrick’s side cut loose after the break, laying siege to their opponents’ goal and turning this game into a sponsored shotathon. United ended up registering 33 shots — their most in a Premier League game for a decade.

There was an impressive flow to United’s play in the final half an hour in particular (that Harry Maguire handball decision just before, by the way, is highly questionable). Bruno Fernandes understandably got the headlines for his hat-trick (what an assist for Bryan Mbeumo, too) but Kobbie Mainoo more than played his part.

The fact that Ipswich were so open in the second half (in stark contrast to Hull last week) made it easier for Matheus Cunha to link play, and Marcus Rashford’s performance also offered encouragement, including the sight of him dispossessing Abdul Fatawu late on. Luke Shaw would have appreciated that as much as anyone – Fatawu gave him a tough time.

Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Newcastle United

After being a lot of fun to watch in that chaotic 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the opening gameweek, Newcastle got serious against Spurs.

This was a thoroughly professional away display as Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa took another step on Tyneside’s road to redemption. Written off as flops last season, Elanga and Wissa are shining under the management of Matthias Jaissle, scoring a goal apiece against Spurs on an evening when Newcastle’s tactical approach was spot on.

The opening goal was a brilliantly executed passage of play: Nico Gonzalez’s raking diagonal exploiting space behind Andy Robertson for Amar Dedic to nod across to Elanga, who had intelligently drifted inside. Elanga’s finish was beautiful.

Signed from Benfica just under a fortnight ago, Dedic also played a part in Elanga’s opener against Liverpool and is already looking like a smart piece of business. A word also for Lewis Hall, the full-back playing on the other side to Dedic — a defensive masterclass.

Leeds United 1-1 Brentford

“Brentford with this excellent performance deserves a lot.”

That was Daniel Farke, the Leeds manager, speaking after a game that Brentford totally dominated for the opening 45 minutes.

We’re going to try not to talk about Mamadou Sangare every week — but we can’t make any promises. There were less than 30 seconds on the clock when Sangare made a superb sliding challenge to win the ball from Anton Stach, and in the blink of an eye Kevin Schade was close to giving Brentford the lead.

Forty minutes later, Schade did score — and it was a goal of the highest quality too, flicked exquisitely with his right boot after a spell of sustained pressure (40 minutes of sustained pressure, pretty much).

Leeds, to their credit, found a way back into the game but Brentford will play a lot worse this season and win.

“I really like us at the moment,” their head coach Keith Andrews said.

So do we, Keith, and that’s why your performance in this draw ranks so highly.

Chelsea 4-3 Brighton

Where to start?

Chelsea, playing at home, had only 26 per cent possession but registered 17 shots, scored four goals and finished with an xG that was twice as high as Brighton, yet their goalkeeper Emi Martinez made four times as many saves as Bart Verbruggen. Make of that lot what you will.

Last week we highlighted how Chelsea’s front three are so good that they’ll regularly compensate for their weaknesses elsewhere. Copy and paste.

That’s not to say that we didn’t learn something new: changing the goalkeeper doesn’t make Chelsea more solid defensively.

Three-nil up after 32 minutes, with Joao Pedro enjoying himself and Pedro Neto running riot on the right, the game was over. Except it wasn’t, because Chelsea, as we saw at Fulham, can’t control matches. Perhaps adapting to a new formation plays a part in that. Maybe Moises Caicedo’s absence in midfield (subbed on against Brighton, then subbed off injured) doesn’t help either. Or is this just how Chelsea play now?

What is clear is that Chelsea’s best form of defence is attack.

Liverpool 2-2 Nottingham Forest

This felt much more Oliver Glasner-like. Forest were difficult to open up in their out-of-possession 5-4-1 shape, but also carried a genuine goal threat, especially in the first half.

It was a measure of how well Forest started that Dan Ndoye’s 24th-minute goal was coming (well, not for Ndoye himself, given he’d gone 377 days without scoring for the club).

Remember we said in gameweek one about Igor Jesus always being denied — it happened again, this time the crossbar preventing him from doubling Forest’s lead. He’s cursed, that man.

In other news, James McAtee’s audition for a regular starting berth as a deep-lying midfielder could hardly be going much better; it’s easy to understand why Steven Gerrard thinks Liverpool should have kept hold of Neco Williams, and we like the look of Jair Cunha, Forest’s 21-year-old Brazilian right centre-back.

All in all, an impressive away display.

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

For 45 minutes nothing happened. In fact, the bloke wearing the hard hat and high-vis jacket on the building site behind the goal must have thought that his decision to offer to work late on Monday wasn’t so smart after all.

Without the ball, Arsenal were Arsenal — rock solid. With the ball, there was no fluidity. Christos Tzolis had a tough time up against Matty Cash and was withdrawn — a wise decision on Mikel Arteta’s part. On a yellow card, Tzolis was ineffective and rattled.

Eberechi Eze, Tzolis’ replacement, had a hand in the goal, feeding a pass into the path of the brilliant Riccardo Calafiori, who is more of an old-fashioned inside left than a left back. Underlapping, Calafiori slid the ball across the face for Bukayo Saka, who was razor sharp with his movement and full of desire.

Saka’s finish wasn’t pretty, but it was hugely effective — and that describes this Arsenal performance. They’re champions for a reason.

Sunderland 1-0 Fulham

Sunderland could be punching here. The worry is that Wilson Isidor’s goal, tucked away after a similar chance had hit the post four minutes earlier, has elevated Regis Le Bris’ team more than it should. That said, it’s hard to get too excited about the performance of anyone below them in the table.

What is clear is that the versatile Nordi Mukiele was superb against Fulham, making up a lot of ground for a crucial block after it looked like Gonzalo Garcia had escaped, and also playing a part in the goal with the measured pass that released Habib Diarra to cross for Isidor.

Otherwise, Sunderland were solid without the ball but unspectacular with it. Granit Xhaka hit some nice switches of play (a lovely pass set Enzo Le Fee free for that earlier Isidor opportunity), but ultimately it was the impact of two substitutes that tipped the balance in a drab game.

Coventry 0-1 Hull City

“We’re gonna win the league.”

That may turn out to be so, but you’re not top of the performance league for a second successive week, Hull supporters.

The last action of the game felt fitting. Remember those ‘Ave it!’ John Smith’s bitter TV commercials years ago, when the comedian Peter Kay booted the ball into the air? Well, that’s what Semi Ajayi did to repel one final Coventry attack, the centre-back’s clearance sailing into the opposition half.

Coaches sometimes put on drills where they station players about 30 yards from goal in various positions and ask them to lump balls into the area for the defenders to clear. Coventry did that for 90 minutes on Saturday, and Ajayi and his team-mates loved it.

Hull had 31.5 per cent possession, which was up 3.2 per cent on the Manchester United game. Their game plan worked perfectly: low block, 5-4-1, try to break us down, get frustrated, and we’ll hit you on the counter.

Two games, two victories, two clean sheets. Good on you, Hull.

Bournemouth 1-1 Everton

The first thing to say is that Alex Scott was the best player on the pitch.

Maybe — just maybe — Bournemouth wouldn’t have conceded a stoppage-time equaliser if the midfielder hadn’t been withdrawn with three minutes remaining, bearing in mind that his replacement, Ryan Christie, was one of two players who challenged for the same ball prior to James Tarkowski equalising. “A slapstick goal,” lamented Marco Rose, Bournemouth’s head coach.

Two weeks running, Bournemouth have surrendered points at the death after being punished on corners, which is a shame because there’s a lot to like about what they’re trying to do in open play. A second goal could, and should, have arrived — but Jordan Pickford and some last-ditch Everton defending intervened… and, well, use that right foot, Rayan!

In fairness, the Brazilian used his left to good effect for Bournemouth’s opener, releasing Evanilson in the right channel after doubling up on Tyrique George and stealing possession. Scott did the rest, and it should have been the matchwinner.

Bournemouth 1-1 Everton

“Disappointed with the performance,” David Moyes, Everton’s manager, said, which is helpful for our summary.

That said, Thierno Barry, who responded to our assertion that he’s not the long-term solution up top for Everton by sticking two fingers up with a midweek hat-trick against Preston, had three good chances at Bournemouth. Unfortunately, Barry couldn’t take any of them, which kind of brings us back to the original argument, even if we still love his smile.

Everton were better in the first half, when Bournemouth’s goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic made an outstanding save to keep out Jarrad Branthwaite’s glancing header.

The visitors were actually enjoying their best spell when they conceded — Tarkowski’s lack of pace was exposed as Bournemouth profited on a counter-attack.

A positive for Everton is that Harrison Armstrong played with great maturity once again and, in terms of the transfer window, is going nowhere. Who says fans don’t have a voice these days, eh?

Liverpool 2-2 Nottingham Forest

Thirty crosses sounds great. Five completed isn’t so clever. Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez registered 0/6 successful crosses. In the space of 37 seconds in the second half, Frimpong inexplicably hit the first man (cue load groans inside Anfield) and Kerkez passed the ball straight out of play. Upgrades needed, folks.

You can’t pin it all on the starting full-backs, though — Cody Gakpo’s excellent centre for Alexander Isak was the only one of the five that he delivered that found a team-mate; two went out for a throw-in on the far side.

More generally, Liverpool’s creativity and attacking quality simply wasn’t good enough. Sure, there was an improvement in the second half (there had to be) when Florian Wirtz was involved in both goals, including an assist for the industrious Victor Munoz. But Liverpool never played with enough intent or conviction, and they’ve still got major problems without the ball.

Leeds 1-1 Brentford

Let’s cut to the chase: Leeds got away with one here. They were comprehensively outplayed in the first half and grateful to get to half-time only one goal behind.

So you’re saying Leeds were awful? No. Brentford were excellent, controlling midfield and pinning Leeds back in a way that few teams manage to do at Elland Road. It was, essentially, one-way traffic for 45 minutes.

“We forced them into changing the system,” Keith Andrews, Brentford’s head coach, said.

And not just once, either. Daniel Farke, the Leeds manager, deserves credit in that respect, with his tactical changes — the back three was discarded and later restored — eventually paying off as the substitute Lukas Nmecha came off the bench to set up Dominic Calvert-Lewin for the equaliser.

A point gained in the circumstances – and a reminder that Leeds are tough to beat even on an off day.

Chelsea 4-3 Brighton

Three-nil down early on, Fabian Hurzeler’s injury-ravaged team were getting a taste of their own medicine after dismantling Aston Villa last week. The big difference, though, is that Brighton, totally unlike Villa, responded.

On his first Premier League start, Malick Yalcouye did as much as anyone to inspire the turnaround, scoring an excellent volley and playing a lovely pass in the lead-up to Brighton’s second. Aged 20, Yalcouye could turn out to be Carlos Baleba’s replacement. Just like Baleba was Caicedo’s replacement. Tell us how you do it, Brighton.

Brighton were very good for an hour at Chelsea, but you can’t ignore the calamitous first 30 minutes and the fact that the word ‘performance’ takes in a dying art called defending. Ferdi Kadioglu, last season’s player of the year at Brighton, will have nightmares about Pedro Neto, and Mats Wieffer, the other full-back, wasn’t much better.

Still, full marks for the attempted fightback.

Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal

A big improvement on last week’s humiliation at Brighton.

Admittedly, that’s not saying much, and we also can’t overlook the fact that for a second successive game Villa failed to register a shot on target. But there were still positives to take for a team that is going through considerable change and missing key personnel.

Nobody could question Villa’s effort on a night when the home crowd got right behind the team and Unai Emery’s players responded by competing for every ball as if their life depended on it.

Up front, Nicolas Jackson was a willing runner, Alysson came off the bench and delivered a lively cameo, and the new Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki showed that his distribution could be a real asset.

Ultimately, though, Villa never really looked like hurting Arsenal.

Manchester United 5-2 Ipswich Town

What happened? It was all going so well and then Marcelino Nunez slipped over, Bruno Fernandes scampered clear to equalise, the heavens opened and Ipswich were swept away in a deluge of second-half goals.

Poor old Jacob Greaves endured a torrid afternoon. The centre-back scored an own goal and also gave away a penalty as Ipswich, after a bright start, totally lost their way.

If there was an element of misfortune about the first two goals Ipswich conceded, there was no disputing the gulf in class thereafter. Ipswich didn’t help themselves during that final half hour, when they were far too open — Gary O’Neil, their manager, talked about the importance of showing “emotional discipline” after falling behind — and United took full advantage.

Still, let’s end on a high: Julio Enciso.

Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Newcastle United

“You can’t buy mentality in the transfer market,” the Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi said afterwards.

You also can’t play Mathys Tel on one wing and Pedro Porro on the other and hope to win football matches.

Spurs were nice: nice to watch playing out, but also nice to play against. Their fragile confidence was exposed in the way they reacted to Elanga opening the scoring after Newcastle capitalised on a mixture of poor defending (the underwhelming Sandro Tonali was part of that) and a lack of pressure on the ball. It was certainly no surprise to see Wissa add a second 10 minutes later.

If we’re looking for some silver linings, Jan Paul van Hecke’s passes in build-up play would be one and Andy Robertson got into some promising attacking positions in the first half. But Tottenham fans — and the rest of us for that matter — are entitled to expect a lot more after this summer’s outlay.

They need to improve, fast.

Crystal Palace 1-4 Manchester City

“It’s not a ranking of style, it’s a ranking of efficiency,” Pierre Sage said after the Manchester City defeat, with the Palace head coach sounding like a man who hasn’t bought into our performance table.

Sage was responding to a television reporter’s dubious suggestion that Palace played better against City than they did at Goodison Park (this column isn’t sure about that).

Palace positives against City? Adam Wharton’s first-half display. Wharton was so good that you felt sorry for him because of the inadequacies of those around him, a bit like when a smart kid is put in the wrong set at school. Jorgen Strand Larsen, Eddie Nketiah and Yeremy Pino… how could you keep undoing all his good work?

That trio all came off. But Palace, passive in defence and toothless up front, got worse. “You cannot replace the fatigue with less energy,” Sage said, rather damningly.

Coventry City 0-1 Hull City

Back to the classroom.

“There are some serious lessons to learn,” Frank Lampard, the Coventry head coach, said after a deeply worrying performance.

Coventry’s slow, prosaic style of football played into the hands of Hull’s 5-4-1 low block and a team that loves old-school defending.

The clues were there for Coventry the week before. Manchester United delivered 39 crosses against Hull and failed to score. Coventry tried more of the same — 34 crosses in their case. In the space of 45 first-half seconds that we’ll never get back, Loum Tchaouna, Ephron Mason-Clark, Jay Dasilva and Bobby Thomas all delivered aimless balls into the Hull penalty area that were headed clear.

Try something different, lads — but not a centre-back shooting from 35 yards, Aurele Amenda.

To cap it all, Coventry got away with giving Liam Millar one golden chance to break away and score but then handed him another. Asking Matt Grimes to hold the fort in that scenario really isn’t it.

Sunderland 1-0 Fulham

Right now, Fulham are as low as Calvin Bassey’s shorts — sagging, the kids call it, apparently.

Not that this is a time for jokes, especially bad ones.

“It was a terrible game from my team,” Alvaro Arbeloa, Fulham’s head coach, said. “We didn’t fight. We didn’t run. Poor technical level. We didn’t win any duels. No second balls.”

On top of that, Fulham also didn’t have a shot on target and conceded a dreadful goal, when Joachim Andersen’s lack of pace (we said last week that a right-footed centre-back is needed), together with the goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s bizarre decision to come out feet first, enabled Wilson Isidor to score.

One passage of play summed Fulham up. Two minutes before the break, Josh King screamed for a forward pass from Sander Berge. Back to goal with his arms outstretched, King was totally free. Berge looked. Looked again. And looked a third time. Then passed square to Oscar Bobb, who meekly surrendered possession.