From Jadon Sancho struggling at Manchester United to AS Roma's unbeaten start to the season, check out the surprises of the 2021-22 season.
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The 2021-22 football season has only just begun, but fans have already been treated to some top quality action. After the madness of the summer transfer window, the action on the field has lived up to expectations. The return of fans – even in a limited capacity in some cases – has clearly helped players. What’s more, there have been a few surprises that fans have been treated to – whether good or bad. Opinions are rife on how much time it will take certain big money transfers – looking at you, Jadon Sancho – to start making an impact. Elsewhere, certain teams are performing either above or below what was expected of them.
With that in mind, let us take a look at some of the surprises of the early parts of the season.
Jadon Sancho arrived at Manchester United amid plenty of fanfare. It was also the end to a protracted transfer saga, as United had unsucessfully targetted him in the summer of 2020 as well. However, the former Manchester City youth product has failed to hit the ground running at United.
Solskjaer: “Jadon Sancho will improve, I’m sure. We signed him as we see a top forward for 10, 12, 15 years and I’ve not changed my mind on that. He’s a young boy, he’s only 21 and he’ll improve”. ? #MUFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 19, 2021
It doesn’t help matters that, unlike at Borussia Dortmund, United at present are not using a cohesive attacking system. The wealth of their attacking options sees them score plenty, but Sancho’s lack of a defined role hasn’t helped. Manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has stressed patience, which is understandable. Still, it is quite a shock to see him look as listless as he has in recent appearances.
From Jadon Sancho, we move on to a player whose signing arguably upstaged his – Cristiano Ronaldo. But we won’t be focusing on Ronaldo’s impact at Manchester United. Rather, the bigger shock has been how Juventus have seemingly struggled to cope without the Portuguese star.
To some level this is understandable – the team was built to maximise Ronaldo’s strengths, and now Ronaldo is gone. However, only a brave man would bet on Max Allegri’s men being closer to the relegation zone than they are to the Top 4. For their sake, a quick turnaround is of the absolute essence.
Sticking to Serie A but moving to the city of Rome, where AS Roma have enjoyed quite the start to the season. Indeed, the latest team to give Jose Mourinho a job seems to be reaping the rewards thus far. Unbeaten in six games and showing plenty of spirit, it seems the Mourinho gamble is working for now.
The key emphasis is on ‘for now’, because the beginning phases of Mourinho’s management is always the best. Still, given how far off the paces they have been in recent seasons and the amount of their summer outlay, any early progress is welcome.
People will constantly rave about the competitiveness in the Premier League and why that makes it better than other leagues. While the competitiveness can sometimes be overestimated, it doesn’t change the fact that this year is shaping up to be an extremely tight season.
After all, when was the last time the league had not one, not two, not even three… but four legitimate title contenders? Yet that is the case as things stand and, given the strength of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, it will be hard to bet on who ends the season on top.
That Barcelona are sitting in ninth place in La Liga despite strengthening their squad is a clear sign of worry. Of course, losing Lionel Messi was never going to be easy. But the Catalan club’s sheer reliance on the Argentine has been horribly exposed so far in the season.
On the bright side, their decline has opened up the top 4 race. The Madrid clubs – Atletico and Real – take up the first two spots as things stand. However, few if anyone expected Valencia and Athletic Club to be in the top 4 race. Again, it’s early days in the race but one gets the feeling this year’s top 4 race will be exciting.
You have to feel for RB Leipzig at some level. They lost their manager, best midfielder and best defender all to Bayern Munich. That was a blow that was never going to be easy to recover from. And thus it has proved, as they sit in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table currently.
Of course, there is every chance they will turn things around in the near future. But it serves to highlight how tough it can be to compete in the Bundesliga. Bayern’s dominance in recent years has been largely down to them outmuscling their rivals financially. RB Leipzig are just the latest club to feel that blow.
