New Premier League season marks a return to football as it is meant to be

From the return of supporters to hopes of a competitive environment, 2021-22 will bring new storylines, successes and excitement to the English game

It feels like at least four clubs can win the title. While that still points to a fixed financial domination of a different sort, it is the most of the major European leagues (The FA/Getty)

In the build-up to this weekend, some of the biggest players – from Bruno Fernandes to Kai Havertz to Thiago Alcantara – have been talking excitedly to teammates about experiencing their home crowds for the first time. It is a remarkable thing to consider, that fan favourites have barely played in front of those same fans. Some are really looking forward to revelling in it. Managers like Thomas Tuchel and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have meanwhile been talking to their squads about the effects of it.

Crowds make it a different game, for all manner of reasons. It is the real game. This new Premier League season is a return to the real thing. It is football as it’s supposed to be.

One Premier League study showed that football in front of full crowds is a much more fluid game, and not just because of the emotion emboldening everyone. The effects were much more tangible. Officials found that players in empty stadiums were more willing to stop or slow down and look for the foul if there was contact, largely because they could hear it. That isn’t possible when there are thousands of people roaring.

It feels like that very prospect, of stadiums filled with raucous fans again, makes anything in the game seem possible again.

That is the tantalising emotion to be relished as supporters return to their stadiums and their seats this weekend. That’s the unmatched feeling that only the first game of a season can offer. There are now only hopes and dreams, with none of the complications that the reality of results bring.

That is also why this might be a juncture season for the Premier League. Full crowds are not just returning after one of the longest breaks the game has seen, but also one of the biggest crises the game has seen. The Super League was similarly a crisis that threatened the very social bonds that make fans go to games in the first place.

In one of the most uplifting moments in modern football, it was collective supporter power that banished that dismal plan, but the more depressing reasons for its genesis remain.

The elite game has for a long time been distorted by a hugely damaging financial disparity. A core of clubs have grown to problematic sizes, eroding competitiveness and variety, but creating new battles over future economics.

So much of this was articulated in Paris Saint-Germain’s depressing signing of Leo Messi, which also fostered the feeling that even the field of potential Champions League winners is narrowing. It looks like not even Barcelona or Real Madrid can now match an elite that only includes PSG, Manchester City, Chelsea and maybe Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

It is no coincidence that the only clubs fully stable and spending during this crisis are those owned by states or oligarchs.

The drastic decline of La Liga should also serve as a warning for the Premier League.

It has never been more important for the competition to display its competitiveness. That is its unique selling point that has gone much further than Spain’s recent ownership of the game’s megastars. It is crucial to fans who go to games, to foster that sense of hope, and crucial to those fans around the world, to seize their attention.

But is it already under threat?

The 2021 Champions League final did feel like a landmark in heralding the arrival of a future that had long been predicted, and City and Chelsea’s immense resources dominating the top end of the game. They have so far made the most assertive moves in the market. Chelsea have signed the one player they need, in Romelu Lukaku. City have signed a player who is essentially a luxury, since they don’t need him, in Jack Grealish.

It does have the sense of two clubs just pushing things to the maximum, leaving almost nothing unaddressed. The difference may come in the minor details, which is where managers as meticulous and obsessive as Tuchel and Pep Guardiola really show their influence.

Guardiola and Tuchel met in the Champions League final as Chelsea claimed the prize (The FA/Getty)

The German appears to have a hold over Guardiola, having beaten him three times, culminating in the most significant defeat of the Catalan’s career. City may need to break that to retain the title. If they do, it will be four titles in five years – the most extensive domination since Sir Alex Ferguson.

That would be greater cause for concern, because of the changed complexion of the game.

Manchester United have made good signings and addressed key issues in Jadon Sancho and, soon, Raphael Varane, but they could still do with a midfielder. They still look that bit shorter than City and Chelsea, and that’s before you even get to the ongoing debate over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United have done calculated business rather than complete business, and it points to one of the reasons they were initially interested in the Super League. Prominent figures in the game talk of how “commercial markets are exhausted”. There is a staleness, that tends to only see spikes when big signings are made, or big trophies are won. United could do with finally lifting silverware again for all sorts of reasons.

Liverpool have faced similar financial issues to United, as illustrated by their own restrained business. There is still a belief in the club that they could enjoy a resurgence from the return of so many injured players. Whether that is enough for a title challenge remains to be seen, but it could well be enough to lock off the top four. We have maybe even returned to a new “big four”. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have just fallen away, the latter losing a position of real opportunity as soon as they got there. Arsenal’s decline has been over a longer period, with the attempt at an overhaul complicating Mikel Arteta’s time at the club so far. Many within the Emirates are keen to argue that this is also the “real” start of the Basque’s reign. There has been some promise, and Arsenal have actually been one of the best performing teams in the Premier League since Christmas, but Arteta now needs to show some end product. They still don’t look in anywhere near as good a place as Leicester City.

You would say Brendan Rodgers’s side are best placed to break the top four, except for the fact they have eventually – and very belatedly – hit a ceiling in the last two seasons. These fifth places are constantly cast as a psychological weakness. They are not. They are the opposite. They are the perfect articulation of the financial stratification of the division. Leicester missing out on the Champions League by the slimmest of margins and pushing right up against the ceiling is really Leicester pushing themselves to their limits.

Leicester won the FA Cup last season while almost breaching the top four too (The FA/Getty)

They are in truth a model modern side, in the way they have articulated a progressive identity and maximised it. This is the lesson for the rest of the Premier League. This is another split in the Premier League, a consequence of the greater financial split.

Faced with less opportunity for upward mobility, many of the clubs must decide between looking to maximise what they are through an identity, or just consolidating their place and doing the universal basics well. The former is long term, and involves some risk. The latter is short term, and involves risk-aversion.

Burnley, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Watford, Wolves and Everton are those looking to hold their place, to varying levels, and with varying money. Some of it is signified by the managers, not least Rafa Benitez.

Brentford, Brighton, Leeds United, Norwich City, Southampton and – very recently – Crystal Palace are those looking to do something more distinctive.

Palace might be something of a case study in that regard, not least given the accelerated rate of change this summer. It is as if they are trying to make up for lost time under Roy Hodgson. The hope for Patrick Vieira is that they’re not trying all this too quickly.

Some exciting transfer work from Palace sees them rebuilding an ageing team (Getty)

An irony is that there feels like an awful lot of volatility among these clubs, with numerous potential candidates for relegation. It could be extremely competitive below the top seven, with seventh or eighth almost representing victory in the Premier League’s own mini-league – and what might have been had the Super League actually happened.

It is still the top end that defines the character and perception of a competition, though, regardless of its deeper substance.

For now, it feels like at least four clubs can win the Premier League. While that still points to a fixed financial domination of a different sort, it is the most of the major European leagues.

It is just more important than ever the Premier League shows that.

Football at its best isn’t just about having fans back. It’s about fans having something to cheer for beyond identity. It’s about competitive balance and variety. It’s about unpredictability.

It is the one concern going into a new season that a lot of it feels a touch predictable. For now, excitement prevails. You can sense it among the players. It needs to run through the whole season.