THE state of this season’s new boys in the Premier League is alarming.
For the first time in 20 years, the three promoted teams — Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester — haven’t won in their opening six league games.
Back in 2004-05, it happened to Norwich, West Brom and Crystal Palace. Only the Baggies survived.
And before Everton beat Palace last weekend, there were six teams down the bottom who hadn’t tasted victory in their opening five games — the first time that has happened in top-flight history.
The longer you go without winning, that’s when pure panic kicks in.
You start questioning yourself. Are we actually any good? Are some of my team-mates over the hill?
Trust me, I have been there with Watford. In 2019-20, we didn’t pick up our first win until matchday 12 — losing six and drawing five before finally beating Norwich 2-0 in early November.
We would eventually be relegated.
And the worst part by far is, when you finally get that first win, you race back to the dressing room, look at the league table, and you’re still in the drop zone and miles off the pace.
It is so demoralising and your body just drops. Then the rumblings start amongst the squad, players speaking with their agents, talk of whether the manager is up to it. His tactical plans begin to get ignored on the pitch.
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It spirals. That is why getting on a winning run is vital.
By the law of averages, you’re bound to win at some point, but you need the right mindset.
There are those who will say this season’s table is a bit misleading right now.
On the one hand, Ipswich in 15th have only lost twice, drawing four while Leicester in 17th have drawn three and lost three, but then there is Southampton in 19th — lost five, drawn one, and look hopeless.
So, is the gap between them and the top half of the league too great? Are they just not good enough? Are they being too brave? Or perhaps not brave enough and content with draws?
To be honest, it is a bit of everything.
That gap between the Championship and the Prem is growing by the second and these promoted teams are trying to play like the big boys too often when they don’t have the quality or experience to do so.
Why on earth would you try and beat the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool at their own game when not even some top sides in Europe can do that? It’s madness.
Physicality and resilience plays a huge part and this trio are really lacking in it.
Just look at Leicester’s 4-2 defeat at Arsenal last Saturday. It was one of the worst Premier League performances I have seen in a long time, and they are somehow still reliant on a 37-year-old Jamie Vardy.
Vardy is always going to be a legend of the club and he still runs his arse off and will nick a few goals. But asking him to hold it up against William Saliba and Gabriel? Come on.
The one and only time Vardy ran the channel, he won a foul and Leicester got a goal from a free-kick but he didn’t try that again for the rest of the game. Why?
And then in their midfield they have Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp. I think I could run past them even now.
When Southampton go to Arsenal on Saturday, I can guarantee Aaron Ramsdale will try to play out from the back from minute one and I expect them to lose badly. Maybe by six or seven.
At least Ipswich look like they have some goals in them and Kieran McKenna has admitted he won’t stick to one way of playing. Out of the three, they have a chance of staying up.
But why does it take these teams, and their managers, so long to clock that the Prem is a different ball game entirely?
Forget style of play – how about we play to win?
Why is the relentlessness and the ruthlessness of the Prem still massively underrated by anybody outside of it? It is not exactly this big secret designed to surprise you.
I remember running over people in the Championship with Watford and then thinking: “I’m a f***ing beast,” and then I walked into the Prem and I thought: “F**k me.”
The reason my Watford group stayed in the top-flight from 2015 to 2020 was because we had a squad full of players who knew the game, knew their jobs and got on with it.
But ultimately, whatever happens, as long as you’re in touch of survival come March, you are in with a chance, however slim.
