“The new Premier League season has begun, with reigning champions Manchester City beating Vincent Kompany’s Burnley 3-0 at Turf Moor— and top-flight games are about to become longer. The game at Turf Moor had five minutes added on at half-time and six minutes added on after the second half. Additional time played at the end of each half will increase under a new directive for 2023-24, and the expectation is that 100-minute matches will become the norm this season. …”
The Athletic

“… The map is a basic location-map, with an inset map of Greater London. Also shown are small labels which point out the three promoted clubs (Burnley, Luton Town, Sheffield United). And there are three charts… The Attendance chart, at top-centre of the map page, shows 4 things for each of the 20 current Premier League clubs…A) 2022-23 finish (with promotions noted). B) 2022-23 average attendance [from home league matches]. C) Stadium capacity [2022-23]. D) Percent-capacity [2022-23]. At the right-hand side of the map page are two more charts. The chart at the top-right shows Seasons-in-1st-Division for the 20 current Premier League clubs. …”
billsportsmaps
W – 2023–24 Premier League

“… 5) Howe eyes revenge – and McTominay. Newcastle may have lost February’s League Cup final to Manchester United but revenge against the same opponents at St James’ Park on Sunday would be particularly sweet for Eddie Howe’s side. While a home win would bolster Newcastle’s Champions League qualification hopes significantly, a key subplot of the match itself could involve central midfield. …”
Guardian

“It’s that time of year again. No, it’s not the dawn of spring with birds chirping and daylight actually lasting longer than the working day, it’s the end of the financial year and that means Premier League clubs must present their full accounts for the previous financial year — essentially the 2021-22 season. …”
The Athletic (Video)
YouTube: Football Club Accounts: Explained

“One of the most memorable and/or toe-curling scenes from the documentary series Sunderland ’Til I Die came when budding Ministry Of Sound DJ/new club director Charlie Methven discussed mixing things up music-wise. To replace Dance Of The Knights, the foreboding Prokofiev piece which had been a staple at the Stadium of Light since it was built in the 1990s, Methven got out the figurative glow sticks and suggested they play Tiesto’s 2005 club smash Adagio For Strings. All while affecting a ‘Yeah, sure, I used to spin a little in my time… before I went to work for JP Morgan’ vibe, which didn’t quite mesh with the locals. …”
The Athletic (Video)

“A football club’s history is wielded as both a source of validation and a sad lament for the passing of better times. Arsenal fans concerned that their club haven’t been league champions for 17 years should think about how Sheffield United supporters feel about the 123 years that have passed since their club finished top of the pile in England. Can we definitively prove Preston supporters think about the year 1888 more than anyone else? No, but it’s true. …”
The Analyst

“1) Potter faces uphill task to convince fans. Stamford Bridge was not a happy place after Chelsea’s insipid defeat by Southampton. There was no holding back. Loud boos greeted the final whistle and the mood near the dugout was ugly. A fair few fans were bellowing abuse at Graham Potter and the worry for Chelsea’s head coach, who has been in the job only since September, will be that he has already lost the crowd. Chelsea supporters loved Thomas Tuchel and many do not see Potter as an upgrade on the German. …”
Guardian

“It was Valentine’s Day on Tuesday, so what better time to uncover the unsung heroes that only supporters of your club actually care about. Here’s who our fan community chose. …”
BBC

“Will Arsenal hold off the challenge of Manchester City to win their first Premier League title since 2004? Who has been the best signing of 2022-23? And what about the worst? What’s been your goal of the season? And how about your favourite game? We asked a group of our writers to review the Premier League season so far — and their responses feature a lot of Mikel Arteta and Erling Haaland… ”
The Athletic

“Arsenal face an FA Cup third-round tie at League One side Oxford United tonight, as Mikel Arteta’s men attempt to continue their progress in a campaign that has seen them become Premier League front-runners. Arteta is at the centre of a rebuilding job which, after a troubled period, appears to be turning the side into a competitive force once again — and the efforts to improve show little sign of abating. …”
The Athletic (Video)

“The summer of 2021 brought Arsenal’s new recruitment strategy into sharp focus. Just over £140million ($168.4m) was spent transforming a squad that had staggered to an eighth-place finish in the previous Premier League season and not one new arrival was over the age of 23. It was all premeditated, all part of a plan. In came Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares, each bringing more potential than an obvious pedigree. ‘That has to be Arsenal,’ said Edu, the club’s technical director. …”
The Athletic

“This season’s Premier League. Remember it? It kicked off back in August before taking a six-week hiatus so we could all enjoy the first ever winter World Cup. Well, it’s back on Boxing Day, so now seems as good as time as any to provide a quick primer for readers who, like this column, may have been so preoccupied by events in Doha they’ve been being paying scant attention to goings on closer to home. …”
Guardian

“Yes, we’re into the second half of October but only now can The Athletic rate the good, the bad and the ugly of this season’s Premier League third kits, as it’s taken this long for them all to finally be unveiled. Bizarre colour schemes, tributes to bridges and digital front-graphic panels, third kits are usually a heady cocktail of the experimental and the sublime, and this year is no different. …”
The Athletic

Arsenal fans make their way to the Emirates from Gillespie Road on derby day
“Super League proposals, globalisation, games potentially being played abroad, the hunger for European football… it’s felt for a while that this might be the future of the game. Ask your typical English football supporter which fixture they first look for in June and chances are they’ll say their team’s local derby. …”
The Athletic

“Over the past few years, we have supposedly seen the ‘best ever’ club sides in the Premier League and even Europe. When Liverpool and Manchester City went head-to-head in 2019, some were quick to proclaim them the greatest of all time, but in 2019-20, City fell short and a year later, Liverpool’s defence of their Premier crown was rather tepid. The real test of a great team is consistency over a period of time and both of these clubs have shown they have that quality. …”
Game of the People

“Some sites are just good, right? They’re in the race for the most trophies most years, and while they invariably meet some disappointment along the way, the pots and pans usually start to pile up. Now think of Manchester City or Manchester United under Alex Fergurson or Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. However, other teams seem to do better as pure cup sides. A look back to the 1970s and 1980s and a look at the two major domestic cup competitions seems to confirm this. If we start our last ‘ah, those were the days’ in 1970 and look at that decade’s FA Cup competition, for example, we see certain teams with a distinct ‘cup pedigree’. …”
UK Daily