Season previews are a peculiar affair. Reflect on the summer, filled with optimism, and those words now seem to taunt their authors. Managers, too, are not spared. Back in August, Oliver Glasner was the masterful, sophisticated, Big Vase-winning, Austrian champion of in-game management. He had fortified Crystal Palace’s defense and set the stage for Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise’s creative brilliance. Adam Wharton, meanwhile, was hailed as the second coming of Paul Scholes, equally strawberry blonde but with superior tackling skills. The summer’s Euros saw nationwide calls for Gareth Southgate to unleash Wharton. Jean-Philippe Mateta was a goal-scoring machine, showcasing his prowess at Big Sports Day. What could go wrong?
The answer: quite a bit, if not everything. Olise was sold to Bayern Munich, leaving Eze to fend for himself. Wharton’s groin injury has hindered his progress, and he found no place in Lee Carsley’s experimental England setup. He and Mateta, also battling fitness issues, were relegated to the bench at Nottingham Forest, where Palace lost dismally on Monday. Eddie Nketiah, who replaced Mateta, failed yet again to score his first Palace league goal and may relive that nightmare.
Glasner, usually a lively presence on the sideline, spent much of the evening confiding in Michael Angerschmid, his trusted friend from their SV Ried days in the Austrian Bundesliga. Palace remains winless and hapless, Glasner’s novelty long gone, with the Holmesdale Ultras growing restless. Yet, safety lies in numbers. The most striking aspect of this predictable season is the inability of four teams to secure wins. Starting from the bottom, there’s Gary O’Neil’s Wolves, still fuming over VAR and Bernardo Silva’s intervention against Manchester City. Wolves are playing well but still losing, a testament to their misfortune. O’Neil’s post-match comment about choosing to upset the smaller guy in a street confrontation is currently under FA investigation.
Russell Martin’s Southampton is equally frustrated, unable to hold onto leads. The sight of Martin facing his team’s defensive failures has become a season meme. Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna, an advocate for “right” football, is too familiar with explaining why his well-funded team cannot replicate their Championship success. Eventually, the winless teams will likely find their footing… but will their managers survive the ordeal?
Join Scott Murray at 8pm BST for live coverage of Arsenal 3-0 Shakhtar Donetsk in the Bigger Cup, while Niall McVeigh will handle the rest of the night’s action in his clockwatch. Oleksandr Zinchenko’s new book reveals how he got benched for questioning Passive Aggression’s Pep Guardiola during training at Manchester City. Read his full interview with Donald McRae here. Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter of the day winner is Gordon MacLeod, who wins a Football Weekly scarf. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
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