After a summer of transfer sagas and managerial changes, the Premier League is back with a bang this weekend.
Here, our reporters reveal the three wishes they'd like to see granted this season.
DOMINIC KING (@DominicKing_DM)
1 Another
year when issues go to the final week: Last season was so refreshing to
have a number of teams with everything to play for in the closing
stages. A repeat would be gleefully received.
2 Teams
to treat cup competitions with respect: it is disgraceful when clubs
fritter away chances of success by naming skeleton teams in the hope of
securing another £1million in prize money in the Premier League. Treat
your fans with respect and try to do something what the game is all
about – win trophies. And on that point…
3 Newcastle
to get to Wembley: it is risible that a club with such a magnificent
fan base have not been involved in a showpiece occasions since 1999. It
is wearisome seeing them involved in negativity and controversy every
year. They aren’t going to get into the top four, so they should be
targeting a run in either the FA Cup or League Cup.
ROB DRAPER (@draper_rob)
1 Another
team, like Liverpool, to come from the blind side and to challenge for
the title. Obviously Liverpool weren't exactly a small team but to go
from seventh to second was phenomenal and it seems unlikely it will
happen again. Could Everton do something similar?
2 Every
club to be forced to admit kids for £10 a head. The inability of most
young people to afford to attend top flight football regularly, as we
did as youngsters, is not only sad: long-term it will damage the Premier
League and the clubs.
3 Burnley
to stay up. Not a partisan view, simply that they provide hope for
English football. Burnley have good owners, a good manager, honest
players and they try to do things the right way and to represent their
community. Clubs like them and Swansea should be the model for the
Premier League
LEE CLAYTON (@LeeClayton)
1 More
black boots. It is a nonsense that average players wear brightly
coloured boots. I went to Brentford vs Charlton last week and there was a
big lump of a centre half, Andre Bikey, wearing one pink and one blue.
On your Bikey, son. Only players who can play should wear brightly
coloured boots. The first top player who wears black boots gets a
special feature on MailOnline. Go on, you know you want to.
2
Cheaper tickets. It is nonsense that some West Ham fans are being asked
to pay £75 for the opening game against Spurs. Clubs are raking in more
money from TV than ever before. When will they learn that they need to
help the loyal support? West Ham, to be fair to them, are creative in
their pricing for kids (‘Kids for a Quid’ in some games), but clubs have
to get real.
3
More English players, less foreign players. There were 19 foreign
players out of 22 in the Community Shield. I’d like to see more English
coaches being given a chance in the top flight too. There is more chance
of seeing English pigs flying. Foreign owners, appoint foreign
managers, who sign foreign players. It’s too much now.
SAMI MOKBEL (@SamiMokbel81_DM)
1 For
Daniel Sturridge to prove there's life after Suarez Liverpool will be
poorer without the controversial Uruguayan, but in Sturridge Brendan
Rodgers has a player with the potential to help supporters forget about
their star striker. It would be great to see England's top striker prove
Liverpool can survive without the mercurial South American. If he
doesn't Liverpool will struggle.
2
To see Theo Walcott back fit and firing. The Arsenal forward is a
bona-fide match-winner for club and country. Last season was wrecked by
injury; Arsenal and England's hopes faded as a result. He is expected to
be back by mid-September. A fit again Walcott can help fire Arsenal to
the title - and help England forget about their World Cup woes.
3
For Daniel Levy not to sack a manager. How good would it be to see a
Spurs manager fully secure in his job. Tottenham saw fit to hand
Mauricio Pochettino the job of re invigorating their expensively
assembled squad. So the least Levy can do is give the Argentine time to
complete the job. Whether that happens, I seriously doubt it.
CHRIS WHEELER (@ChrisWheelerDM)
1 An
end to the penalty box free-for-all. If you grab a player by the ears
and yank his shorts down anywhere else on the pitch it's a freekick,
plain and simple. Referees need to apply the rules at corners - award a
couple of penalties early doors and it will soon disappear from the
game.
2 David
Moyes back in Premier League management. He took the bullet (albeit a
very lucrative one) for being the first one to step into Fergie's shoes
and wasn't a very convincing Chosen One, but he remains a first-class
coach and a thoroughly decent bloke who deserves another chance.
3 More
live broadcasts from Copacabana Beach. Even if it's Swansea v Hull on a
wet Monday night in January, let's have the pundits giving their
opinions from Rio. The sight of them in their short sleeves and
flip-flops, with the waves lapping onto the shore in the background,
will let us all dream of a better place in the depths of winter.
JOE BERNSTEIN
1
A little honesty from managers. Somehow, a culture has arisen where
managers never, ever take responsibility for losing, and never, ever
criticise their players for diving, feigning injury, elbowing or any
other nasty habit. Don't blame the referee or his assistant for every
goal conceded, and if one your players acts very badly, be brave enough
to shop them.
2 A
stand-out performer. We've been blessed in recent seasons to have had
some exciting genuine world-class players in the Premier League; Van
Persie, Bale, Suarez. Someone needs to step up to the plate this season,
given Van Persie's advancing years, it probably has to be a younger
model. Hazard, Sterling, Sanchez, our league needs you to shine
big-time.
3 Home
advantage. Call me old-fashioned but there used to be plenty more home
teams winning than away ones. Not any more, nobody seems to go through a
season unbeaten at home any more. Even Mourinho joined in last season.
Let's have a few more fortresses so going away and winning three points
actually means something.
1
Fernando Torres to make a fresh start elsewhere. His struggles have
gone on for too long now, to the point that people seem to have forgot
what a tremendous player he was. He's 30 now, so how about some new
surroundings and maybe a little jump in confidence that might, just
might, spark a better finale to his career.
2
Cheaper tickets. They've been getting more absurd by the year and £55
is too much for West Ham's cheapest option - even if it is a Category A
fixture. The greed is widespread and it's insulting to fans.
3
Arsenal to mount another title challenge. I've got no allegiance to
them, but title races, and the Premier League in general, is more
exciting when they are winning. They still play the nicest football in
the league.
MIKE ANSTEAD (@mike_anstead)
1
Andre Schurrle to be given a proper run in the Chelsea team. Jose
Mourinho has plenty of forward options to sit behind Diego Costa, but
Schurrle has to start for them. He scored three goals for Germany on
their way to winning the World Cup and is a constant threat – certainly
more so than Oscar and Willian.
2 Midlands
football has been in the doldrums in recent years and it’s time there
was something to smile about. Aston Villa are heavily tipped for
relegation, with fears for West Brom and promoted Leicester, too. Let’s
hope at least one of them can emerge to surprise us all and give us a
reason to get excited about a region with deep football history.
3 English
kids to be given a chance. John Stones at Everton and Luke Shaw at
Manchester United face a battle to get into the starting XI, but they
deserve the opportunity. Others – such as Jordan Ibe at Liverpool –
could get a glimpse of the first team at some stage. After the shambolic
World Cup, these guys can stir the passion for the national team once
again.
MARK ALFORD (@AlfieDM)
1
More diving headers. When was the last time you gasped at a
bullet-header from a centre-forward, diving across a firing line of
raised boots? (Cue: a deluge of comments reminding me of moments I
missed from last season). There’s nothing more dramatic – in my humble
opinion - than a goal from a diving header. Alan Shearer was a
dive-bomber, so was Lee Chapman. I’m hoping Diego Costa has a couple in
his locker – and let’s face it, he doesn’t really have to protect his
old Boat Race, does he?
2 Wayne
Rooney to have a vintage season – I’m far from a fan of the club he
plays for, but it would be great for the Premier League and England to
see a resurgent Rooney banging in the goals. It’d warm the heart of
every Englishman to see Wayne put RVP in his place and show everyone who
is the real cock o’the north round Old Trafford.
3
English goalkeepers. I grew up with Clemence, Shilton and Woods.
England was famous for her goalkeepers. Now there’s Joe Hart… I’m not
having Fraser Forster (yet) and Ben Foster (full stop). We’ve stopped
producing world class goalkeepers. And for all of us who fondly remember
our 10-year-old muddy knees and grass-stained shirts, that’s a wound
that needs healing.
CRAIG HOPE (@CraigHope_DM)
1 The
North East to head north - Not since 1955 have Newcastle and Sunderland
both finished in the top 10 of the top division. The rivals have
recruited well so far this summer and have as good a chance as the rest
of filling the positions behind the 'top 7'. More than 90,000 fans turn
out to watch the respective North-East clubs and that passion and
commitment deserves more than its been served in recent seasons.
2
England players earn right to be lauded (again) - I'm not having the
usual fanfare around the likes of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. It
will make my skin crawl if I hear any pundit call Rooney a 'special
player' before a ball has been kicked. England were an embarrassment at
the World Cup, don't forget, and it was our over-hyped Premier League
'stars' who were the cause of our shame. Score 25 goals, Wayne, and you
might just hear a smattering of applause emanate from my direction.
3
More Van Gaal, less Mourinho. I'm a bit a bored of Mourinho soundbites,
which are becoming increasingly bitter and barbed. But Van Gaal is an
engaging character and has done nothing but impress thus far. His
charisma is a welcome addition to the narrative of the Premier League
and – succeed or fail at Old Trafford – it promises to be an intriguing
tale.
LAURIE WHITWELL (@lauriewhitwell)
1
Not a single ball to be kicked out of play for injury. Watching a
player reluctantly boot a ball out of play as a teammate or opponent
lays 'stricken' on the floor is quite possibly the most irritating sight
in the game. Play is supposed to go according to the referee's whistle
but crowds start to boo and footballers feel pressured to show
sportsmanship. It's not sportsmanship, it's a waste of time and the
sooner everyone stopped the quicker certain injuries would heal.
2 Darren
Fletcher to steer Manchester United to the Champions League. He's the
Manchester United vice-captain a year after he was hooked up to a drip
imagining he would never play again - what a story it would be if he
played a prominent role as United made it back to the Champions League.
Having surgery to quell the suffering caused by chronic ulcerative
colitis shows how seriously the disease had afflicted him for three
years. To be playing is a marvel, to be doing so at the club where he is
so fondly thought of is remarkable.
3
Ticket prices to be lowered. The march by the Football Supporters
Federation to Premier League HQ for talks with Richard Scudamore over
ticket prices is a sign this issue might be close to substantial change.
The cost of attending matches has become a joke, made not at all funny
by the enormous TV rights money flooding into club coffers. The £250,000
allocation for each club to assist away supporters is a start but deep
cut across the board is required. Fans are part of a club's fabric and
should not be treated as mere consumers. But that horse has already
bolted.
SAM CUNNINGHAM (@samcunningham)
1
More penalties for holding. It happens in practically every game. A set
piece or corner is swung into the box and the defender has his arms and
hands – and eyes – all over the attacker without paying any attention
to the ball. There were only five penalties awarded last season for
defenders holding players in the box – yet replays show it happens
countless times in a season. If referees clamp down, it'll stop
happening.
2 Goalkeeper
sweepers (Gweepers?). Manuel Neuer was practically an 11th outfield
player for Germany on their way to winning the World Cup in Brazil. He
was applauded for his ability to read the attack and repeatedly
intercept through balls and long passes way out from his goal-line. When
I interviewed the great Peter Schmeichel a few years ago he was
convinced this was the next stage in evolution for goalkeeping. Let's
hope more Premier League goalkeepers have the confidence to try it.
3
Saturday 3pm games on television. This doesn't particularly apply to
me, as for the majority of the season I am at games for work on a
Saturday afternoon. But for the fans who can't make it to matches it
would be nice if they were treated to a 3pm kick-off available live. The
lunch-time and late-afternoon games are all well and good, but every
punter would prefer a full afternoon of football on the telly.
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