5 takeaways from the first weekend of Premier League football

Everton v Valencia - Pre-Season Friendly
Richarlison was one of the stars of the Premier League weekend

#4 Promoted teams will need to get it together quickly

Fulham FC v Crystal Palace - Premier League
Fulham's struggles were a common theme for the new boys

One of the more silly things in recent years has been the emphasis on the transfer window (alongside other silly things like net spend) to the detriment of the actual football. That is why it's common to hear these days about some teams "winning the transfer window".

Wolverhampton Wanderers, Cardiff City, and Fulham were promoted from the Championship last season. All three teams spent a considerable amount of money to bring in a lot of new players.

Fulham's manager Slavisa Jokanovic started 6 new players in the home game against Crystal Palace and it showed. The team could only play it's characteristic quick, short-passing game intermittently and struggled to show any sort of coherence. They were deservedly beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace and will need to gel as a team quickly before it all goes awry.

Cardiff City is a side widely tipped for relegation back to the Championship. The performance against Bournemouth went some way to confirm this thinking as the Bluebirds were abject and should have lost by more than the two-goal margin.

Wolves were the only promoted side to earn a point; a creditable 2-2 draw at home to 10-man Everton. Nuno Espirito Santo's men gave a good account of themselves with debutant Raul Jimenez getting the equalizer.

All three teams will need to get better and fast as the Premier League is an unforgiving best and getting cut adrift early in the season is a real and ever-present danger.

Quick Links