Premier League 2026-27 Volatility: Chelsea's €407M Spend & Fulham's Black Box

Welcome to the Total Soccer Show and our Premier League predictions, part two, in which we tell you all about Chelsea, Frank Lampard's Coventry City, Crystal Palace Everton, my name's Ryan Bailey. Hello, everybody. Say hello to Taylor Rockwell. Hi, Taylor. Hello, Ryan. How are you, my friend? I'm wonderful. Did you just give your mic a little tattoo? They're just approvals there. Did I throw my phone away from me because I was still looking at it when you started the show and then I hit the mic? Yes, I did. How's this Instagram? How's Instagram doing? Is it okay? It was my wife texting me that she and the girl will be outside when I'm done recording. Nice. It's not cold Instagram anymore. Either it's cold Instagram. I'm sorry. Oh, sorry. This is that joke's not going to land if you don't know the new logo. So you don't look at you don't look at Instagram that close to it. It's a tight face humorous remark. I like it. Hello, Graham. How are you? I'm good. Yeah, apparently I spent too much time on Instagram and on my phone. I'm the only one who's noticed the new logo, but I did notice Scotland having a new manager and he is the first Scotland manager who's been tagged, who's been young enough to be tagged on Instagram when the Scottish National Team did the post. That's good. He was also wearing a jacket as well, which is, you know, young-ish sort of like a shirt jacket for me, please? Like a shirt jacket. You've seen them. They're all the rage, particularly in the UK. Every one of a certain age wears a jacket. Scotland is what? Apparently a country, but don't look into that too closely or we might lose our FIFA membership. Hmm. Hey, maybe that's not worth what it used to be anyway, Graham. Anyway, good stuff. Hi, Joe Larry. How are you? Hey, I'm great. I can imagine Ryan suddenly being interested in digging more into Scotland if it means they lose their FIFA membership. I think that might be the only way we get Ryan interested in actually talking about Scotland in the first place. I was more interested in the jacket, if I moment this. That sounds intriguing. I, Graham, associated with young people, I'm not a fashionista. Yeah, it's more, it's a more, it's a more annual thing. But for a football manager, I associated it with a young football manager. I see it. Yeah. Like, like, baby boy age might wear a a jacket, you know? Yeah, I mean, Ryan, I am short, like, everyone, our age, I think which was a little bit younger than us. Like the three of us, everyone in the UK wears a jacket at all times. Okay. And every setting. So I'm surprised. I think I know what you mean. But Joe does live in a climate where anything portman totally jacket is probably. Yeah, we don't do this. We, yeah. I'm not only do I think that was some sort of slur, but we also just don't wear them here. So. Wonderful. All right. Glad we got that covered. Patreon.com slash total soccer show is where you'll find our bonus content bonus episodes access to our discord. It's a great community. Do join us there. Patreon.com slash total. But it was a slow wonderful. That was the best pivot I had away from that one, Joe. Nice. When we've all got very good. That's good. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Yeah. More edgy stuff on the bonus feed. Okay. Today it's about Chelsea commentary. Crystal Palace. Everton and full and Joe Lowry. Reeling from your Sotorial commentary there. Let's hear about Chelsea. Javi Lanzos Chelsea, who spent some money. Let's talk about it. Yeah. They very much have spent some money. I have Chelsea last year. And I think I had to take a deep breath before giving the transfer action. We will have to do the same this time around. But first where we left off with Chelsea last season. They won the club World Cup. Seems like they could accomplish something in the league. And then they didn't. They really, really didn't. They finished 10th with 52 points. They lost in the round to 16 in the Champions League along the way. They fired Enzo Moresca after he flirted a whole bunch of times with Man City. Then they hired Liam Rosenier. Then they fired Liam Rosenier. Then they hired Javi Lanzos over the summer, which again, we'll get to you later on. Chelsea finishing 10th is embarrassing for a club of their resources. They looked a bit better in the XG differential table. But I mean, they were still miles off the best teams in the league. Last season served as a reminder that the blueco consortium that owns Chelsea don't really seem to know what they're doing. They were the youngest team in league. They view players. It seems like as assets and they are unable to create any sort of sustainable environment for a manager or show any patience whatsoever. Chelsea had been a mess. Will they continue to be a mess? Or will they clean themselves up a little bit this season? Well, let's talk about what they did over the summer. I think maybe the thing that's most interesting to me besides Javi Lanzo is that maybe Blueco have learned a few things. I know I just went in with two feet, but I do think we're seeing some signs of that, which is a good thing for them. They are getting older after being so, so young again, the youngest team in the league last season. They added Danny Wellback and Jordan Henderson 35 and 36 respectively. Blueco's first transfer window. They went big. This was years ago now on veterans. They added Raheem Starling who's 27, Kula Bolli 31, Abami Yang 33. Those players did not hit. And apparently that really contributed to Chelsea's decision to focus almost exclusively on younger players from kind of 2023 onward. Now they've realized they'd need some veterans. And yet co-owner Baghdad Agvali come out and acknowledge that the club needs balance balance was his direct quote. They sign those two veterans. They also, according to the athletic inquired about Janet Jaca and John Stones. Those two would have been better players, but you can't get them all. You can't get all the players you want. That's all right. I think this team has been young and combustible and they will still be young this year, but less so and ideally less chaotic along with it. So I that's a top line sort of shift for Chelsea this summer. In terms of outgoing Moca Carrera, the Spanish left back who was great the woke up soft around the grid. Andre Santos, the 22-year-old center maids off to Manchester United, Trevor Chalaba, the 27-year-old center backs off to Como. Alejandro Garnacho's off on loan to Aston Villa could be made permanent. We'll see what happens there. They also sold Tyreek George, the young winner to Everton for 20 million euros. Wasn't really in the plans. Seems like they will sell Pedro Neto as well. There's a lot of buzz around Pedro Neto right now. We'll see what happens there. Not a done deal by any means, but it sounds like there's a number of interesting parties in him and it seems like Chelsea are willing to part ways. There's also been a whole will they won't day about city and and so Fernandez offers have been exchanged. Deadlines have been set. It's all been very dramatic. He's still a Chelsea player. I mean, if you had to make me pick no one's making you pick. I'll say he will he will continue to be a Chelsea player, but really don't know. Man City could still commit for him before the end of the window. Nicholas Jackson could be on the way out as well, which I just I don't I don't get it, man. I mean the guy maybe he's difficult to work with. I really don't know. I think he's a brilliant player who is good enough to be a starter for an elite level team. Apparently Chelsea don't agree. That's fine. I suppose they know more than I do. He could be on this way out. Aston Villa are apparently interested in Chelsea seem willing to sell. We'll see what happens on that front. Turns it in Cummings. Again, deep breath. Everybody. Morgan Rogers, the 24 year old attacking midfielder from Aston Villa. He was brought in 438 million euros. The most expensive British player ever. Seems like truly insane money for me, but I think he's a good player. Like I'm not trying to deny that. It's just elite top of the line money for a player who I don't think is that, but again, I think he will be good for Chelsea this year. They also brought in Marco Polestra, the 21 year old right back from Atlanta for 57 million euros. I will just say this, and that I don't think I'll mention the finances again for a team that was in financial warm water at the end of last season, but they spent 200 million euros on Morgan Rogers and Marco Polestra is mind boggling to me. Like I just don't understand it. I'm sure both are going to be useful Premier League players probably more than that in Rogers case, but man, that's a lot of dough for two guys that I don't think fully warrant it. Maxson's Laqua has joined this team. The 26 year old center back from Palis was at the World Cup with France, Chevaria, 20 year old Spanish left back joining from Raya Vagano. He's another player that sort of fits in that more veteran mold that Blueco have generally steered away from. So interesting signs there. Giovanni Quenda, the 19 year old right winger from sporting coming in for 50 million euros. I go and add him to the hat of wingers that we have no idea if they're going to play like at all for Chelsea this season. They've added Valentin Barco, the 22 year old Argentine left back center mid from Strasbourg, that sister club Strasbourg. They added another striker from Strasbourg and well back in Henderson, and even other still. There's been a lot of movement from Chelsea. That's just the name of the game. The man on the sidelines, newcomer as well. Shabby Alonzo, 44 year old Spanish coach, one of the incredibly large number of top level coaches from the bass country elite player with Liverpool, Ramadrid and Byron as well as a Spanish national team. Start his coaching career at Raya Sociedad and their B team. Then coaches by Alevra Kusin, where his team went unbeaten in the league, 150, excuse me, unbeaten for 51 games, won the Bundesliga. Tremendous season, one of the greatest all-time football accomplishments. They just did the light. The coach at Ramadrid, where things fell apart, locker room, disagreements, egos, groutube, classic Ramadrid stuff. Now he's at Chelsea, where it's a pretty darn good hire. I mean, I think we all probably are on board with that. Whether or not he will be successful there, different question. But as far as a managerial candidate that you can get after cycling through several managers in a season and falling flat on your face, yeah, Shabby Alonzo is a pretty good one. I think he's coached both up and down. And by that, I mean at Ramadrid, he mostly coached down playing against teams that are worse than him. Alevra Kusin had to coach up for real at times against Bayern Munich. And that's sort of the situation Chelsea are going to be in, right? Where they're going to be favored to win a lot of games, they're going to have to be the protagonist in a lot of games. But he's also going to have to go and manage up against teams like Arsenal and teams and I mean, like teams that they're going to play they're seriously going to challenge them in a way that he didn't experience very much at Ramadrid. But he did experience at Alevra Kusin. And he's got experience at a number of different levels. He's had success. He's won stuff. He's molded a team. Lots of stuff to like. I think in terms of style of play, Shabby Alonzo will have his team try to control the ball. As he sought to do with Alevra Kusin and Ramadrid, his best Alevra Kusin team was incredibly possession-dominant. I expect to pretty fluid set up. And to be honest, a good bit of experimentation early on to find the best personnel groupings and probably to find the right set up for different games because there's so many darn players in this team. And there's a lot of guys that could reasonably contribute in big roles. I we've been seeing Alonzo sort through a lot of players in preseason. I think that will continue into the first bit of this season as well. Probably a back three, but we've seen some back four in possession even in preseason. But often it's been that back four that flips into the back three with one outside back staying home. And the other one going high and wide opposite of a wide winger. I think we could see a lot of that where it's a sort of back three in possession of four four two in defense. But again, fluidity in preseason one interesting thing to me has been we've seen a lot of Joppedro along with another striker like playing as a front two in possession. Which is not a super popular thing to do in modern tactics, but maybe it's becoming a little bit more popular. Joppedro I think could fit really well in that setup because he is best when he can roam and have a little bit of freedom. We're going to see some some shopping and changing. I think Chelsea want to be proactive. The one to control the ball in the final third, but how exactly they do that. I think we'll change a bit from game to game, especially early in the year. Key players, Robert Sanchez and goal. It seems like he's going to be the guy, not 100% sure on that. Next sense, Laquay. I already mentioned him, Levi Colwell, another impressive center back who missed a bunch of last season after the club roll cup. Westley, Fafana, Josh Argent-Pong, Joral Hato, I mean, tons of quality. Maybe Reese James could even play as an outside center back this this season. He's going to invert and do lots of interesting things. Reese James, because he always does. Right wing back, you could be looking at Polestra or Gusto or James left wing back. Chavaria, maybe Polestra can play there as well. You could be looking at even netto if he sticks around. Center made, Reese James, Kaisato, Enzo Fernandez, maybe. Lavia, Barco Henderson, I mean, there's a lot of options in every spot. Attacking midfield in the winger. Cole Palmer wasn't at the World Cup. Remember him, he's still quite good. Morgan Rogers, Estavago, I think, is brilliant. If you can stay healthy, I think he has elite potential. And then sort of a hat of wingers that you could draw any name out of out of that hat. Maybe netto, maybe not. Moodrick is back, by the way. Maybe Jamie Gittens can give you something. Maybe he can give you anything. Yeah, right. There's a whole lot of that in this Chelsea squad. What about Kwenda? I don't know. You also could have Joral Pedro play on the half spaces. Striker, maybe Pedro, maybe Nicholas Jackson, maybe Delap. Maybe those last two guys won't even be around. There's lots of good players here. I do wonder though which ones are are truly great. And if they have enough of those players to be a real contender, plus all the change, plus a new manager, there's a lot that's sort of something against them. But I do think on paper, it's a good squad, man. I know it did the exact same thing last season, but there's a lot of talent in this team and there's a lot to like. I think about a lot of this team. My VSP, Chelsea will finish on the top five in the Premier League for final third regains. Last year, they were 11th in the Premier League at 3.6 per game, according to the athletic. I'm thinking about you lose the ball. You win it back in the final third, final third regain. When Alonzo's lever accused and won the league in 2023-24, they were first in the Bundesliga in final third regains at 6.6. So basically double where Chelsea were last season. I think Alonzo's Chelsea will control the game in the final third more this year. That is a key part of what he wants to do. They have the talent to do it as well, both in terms of quality, final third, playmakers and also energy and aggression in ball control deeper down the field. He wants to win the ball high up. He has the athletes to do what he has the technicians to do it to control the ball in dangerous areas. I think anyway, I think Chelsea are going to be a front footed team that's going to show up in the numbers. Are they going to be good? I really don't know. I hedge towards, there's going to be a lot better than last season, but that's an incredibly low bar. Exactly where they finished about 10th. Man, it's anybody's guess. Their front office must just be complete chaos. I'm picturing like a Pepe Silvia sort of wall in that. If we sell this player to this club, then maybe we have the money to get this player because there are so many players in this squad who could be moved on. I think you mentioned a few of them. Liam Delat, member him, Chelsea spent 40 million on him last year. It feels like they're going to move him on to sign someone else. It seems like they're going to spend big money on another sentiment fielder. The two players that have been linked are Alex Scott from Bournemouth who is going to cost like 80 million plus or Adam Warton who's also going to cost 80 million plus. And this is a Chelsea team that I've already spent. I'm just looking at their transfer market page. I've already spent 407 million euros without any European, without any European qualification. The way they do business makes me feel stupid because I do not understand it at all. And other clubs like Manchester United, with their revenue and Champions League football, you read about their business and they're like, well, we can't reach those figures because and Chelsea are out here spending 140 on Morgan Rogers who's a terrific player. But the money that flows through this club is absolutely unreal and it's been the same way for like five years now. Graham, did you watch The Big Short? Yes, it does. It's like a hyper-specific reference. But like at there's the scene at like Bear Stearns when it's cleared out and they're walking through it. It's just like all the Trader Desks are empty and there's just a mountain like a full pyramid of Red Bull cans. That's what I picture the Chelsea decision room is like. It's just chaos every day you walk in. You're handed a brick of Red Bull or something else and you're told like, find a way to sell this player for however much you can. And then you have to like do that on the next day. It's find a way to buy that player back for even more money. Like it just does seem a little bit chaotic. But they keep pulling it off and finding a way to make it all happen. Every time I read a bit of Chelsea transfer, I'm Steve Carell in the back of the car going, the bonds have gone down, right? They've gone up. Why have they gone up? There's no sets. There's a bubble. There's a muddrick bubble. We need Mark, Robbie and a bathtub to explain what Chelsea are doing. I think is what we need at this point. Is it weird that I would have gone with Bourdain breaking down a fish? That was my favorite one of those. But yes, I'll take your point. Yeah. I'll also play, play a part of this. This is the fourth consecutive season. Chelsea start the season without a shirt sponsor. Like they forgot. They'll get around to it. Okay. All right. Yeah. So Joe, great, great preview. But as with anything that Chelsea do, it's the one where I think there's the most what do I say, latitude to go either way in terms of how this season pans out. So very interesting to see what you'll see. I just I did. I just say last year, I thought they were going to be going coming out of the club broke up. I think I said, I think they can win the league. So the only really, if you strip that whole memory from me and I look at this team and I look at Chabby Alonso coaching it and there's a lot that I like, I think, yeah, like why not? Why couldn't this team give at least Arsenal a run for their money? And then the reality is that I didn't have my memories white. So I just am so hesitant to hedge towards them being really good because I think it's so chaotic, but I think they've done a lot of smart things in addition to the chaotic nonsense that they've done as well and overspending and all this and that. Yeah, I just don't know, man. I think they're going to be good, but I felt like a fool after last year. So honestly, I can't say very good. All right. Quick break time. When we come back, we're going to talk about Coventry and Crystal Palace. Hey, do you understand? So the soccer show, welcome back to our Premier League previews. Oh, 2001. Limp biscuit with a top of the charts. I got my driving license. Always well in the world. It was the last time we saw Coventry City in the Premier League as well. Taylor Rockwell, they've been away a while. Do Coventry have what it takes to beat the drop? Tell us all about Frank Lampod's team. I had a lot to say. Now I want to know more about your Limp biscuit and driving experiences, Ryan. Go on. They're related. I figured they were. I find let's talk Coventry instead. Much as I know, Joe has lots of thoughts on the Fred Durst Uvra. What did they do last season? They got themselves promoted. Come on now. They won the championship. They're back in the top flight, as Ryan said, for the first time in 25 years, which is no small feat given where this club has been nine years ago. They were preparing for their first season in the fourth tier for 59 years and from 2019 to 2021, they had to share a St Andrews with their landlords, Birmingham, and a lot of things have changed. A lot of that is thanks to the ownership of Doug King as well as the efforts of their former former manager, Mark Robbins, who was sacked in November of 2024. That was his second stint in charge. He was there for about eight years in total and he helped bring a lot of stability and consistency to this team. Very much the same thing for owner Doug King. He acquired a majority of majority ownership, excuse me, in November of 2022. He expanded that to full ownership in January of 2023 and he has a very hands-on approach and has had a very hands-on approach since acquiring that ownership. He oversaw the restructuring of club operations, the removal of debt. There's an emphasis on long-term growth and stability and it truly does seem like there is a long-term vision, a long-term preparedness for how to make Coventry continue to be successful, even if that means maybe not the most successful season in the Premier League, more on that to come certainly. But this summer, they've done, I think, good business. They've strengthened a very inexperienced squad when it comes to the Premier League and they've also kept around some of the experience they already had. Probably the most important one, I'll talk more about him in a bit is Carl Rushworth. His loan from last season was made permanent. He was an outstanding goalkeeper for them and I think they will need him to do a pretty outstanding job this season. If they want to stay in and around survival, they added highly-rated Ghanaian international Caleb Yarenchi, who arrives from FC Norgelland. He's a 20-year-old central midfielder, more on him in just a little bit. I want to jump to Lume Chowna, a name that I was not familiar with in all despite him playing in the Premier League last season. He played for Burnley and he has come on a $26.6 million deal. Left-footed Wengerho usually start on the right. He wants to cut inside that suits the commentary system just fine. He's had a really interesting career so far. So he's 22 years old, Born and Chad, raised in Ren, loaned to second division side Dijon because he wasn't going to get any time with Ren basically, who were then relegated. So then he was sold to Serie B side, Solani Tana, who were then relegated. But he was bought out by Lazio, but never given a consistent run of starts and really he was more of like an asset they thought they might flip. And then they did when they were asset stripping, they sold him to Burnley, with whom he was relegated last season and now he's at Coventry. It hasn't been like the top of the table career for Chowna, but I think he's kind of poised with all that experience to be an important attacker in a team that need new and varied attackers. And I think that's going to be another key part of Coventry as we talk about them. And that will be a lot of what Frank Lampard is there to figure out. He is the League Managers Association manager of the season after last year. Only seven of his current team have played in a Premier League minute, but he's also somehow the longest tenured English manager in the Premier League. So there you go. Premier League is not a place to go if you are English and you want to have a long-term career. Apparently, unless maybe you're Frank Lampard, we'll find out. He's going to want them to press high, make life very uncomfortable for their opponents. Can they do that well enough against Premier League sides? It worked really well in the championship last year, but now in the Premier League, you have teams that are much more used to that, much more technical, much more capable of handling that pressure. So can you kind of punch above your weight early if you're Coventry catch some teams when maybe they're not quite in like maybe still a little bit in preseason form. Maybe they're missing some players. Maybe they haven't done a ton of like opposition research at this point. So Lampard is going to need his team to like hit the ground running if they want to get some points and build a little bit of consistency and confidence. Their style of play is most likely to be a 4-2-3-1 roughly speaking, fullbacks advanced high and wide, wide attackers move centrally, hence why the inverted wide attackers are ideal. Then you'll have a deep-lying central midfielder who can make it into like a 2-3-5 or a 3-2-5 in possession, depending on the opposition. And that is where I want to talk about the man Caleb Yerenchi for a moment. One of my predictions, this is not my VSB, but one prediction is that broadcasters will start saying his name differently about halfway through the season because it's written Caleb Yerenchi, but I believe I'm correct in saying that it is pronounced Caleb Yerenchi. So we'll find out if that is the case, but if it is, I imagine we'll start with the hard K and then we'll go to the Chia by like around Boxing Day. But he is a really, really interesting signing. And I think like basically my theory, and I'll give you my VSB now, is that they're going to be relegated Coventry City, but Frank Lampard will not be sacked. And I think this is a season in which they are going to basically pull some surprises, stay alive if they can, but I don't think there's going to be a huge amount of like, okay, it's not working two months in, Lampard's gone, we're bringing in a new manager, we're sacking all these players. I think it's very much about we want to play well, play our style, have some players that shine that maybe we flip if and when we're relegated for a lot of money, we reinvest that money, we build up more strength and we kind of have to maybe be a yo-yo club a little bit ideally to then ultimately become a more established Premier League side. That is my read on Coventry City at present, because they're not going out and really like they're spending money, don't get me wrong, but they're not breaking the bank, they're not trying to be a team that's like, we're going to be even more aggressive and fast-paced in attacking. They're going to play the exact same system that they played. They're going to have, I think, more better players to make that possible, but they still have a number of gaps in the team, but Yarenshi is not one of them. He is a really, really astute siding, in my opinion. He's coming over, as I said, from Norgeland in the Danish Superliga, where he was in the 100th percentile for past accuracy, but then also ranked really highly in terms of progressive passes, progressive carries, direct balls, direct ball, accuracy. He is essentially very good at dropping a little bit deeper, winning the ball, and then playing forward vertically. He's basically what we kind of wish Tyler Adams had in some of his skillset. That's what it seems like to me. I think he is going to be a really strong player right away for Coventry City, and that seems to have been the selling point for how Lampard got him. It was a conversation between the two. We're Lampard essentially promised him. It sounds like starting minutes from the jump in the Premier League. There were other Premier League sides who were offering opportunity, like slow selection and the like, and instead, I think, immediate starting in the Premier League was good enough for Yarenshi. I think he's going to do a lot for this team because they can press, but they can sit off and then try to counter really directly. He's a really good ball winner who can then play long direct balls and play some dangerous passes and carry them all forward if he needs to. I think he will make them a much more functional team. I don't know how much more functional they are going to be ahead of him because the defense is very solid. They return like their entire back five now because call Rushworth the goalkeeper who was, I believe, goalkeeper of the season last year in the shampoo. He signed on a fever around 30 million. They got him on long last season from Brighton, and they have excised a buyback clause or inserted a buyback clause Brighton. So if and when Coventry go down, I feel like there might be a buyback and then I sell on that immediately follows. There is very, very little established depth behind Rushworth. It seems like they've spent a lot of money to get the guy that they want to be their number one. And then they're going to do some finger crossing that he does not get hurt because if so, you're looking at like a 34 year old who's played for 34 different clubs and a 25 year old who's played for like four clubs, but none of them at a particularly high level. It's not a ton of depth. You do have a ton of experience with centerbacks Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching. They played a combined 6200 minutes last season. That's good for fifth and seventh on the team. The only two defenders who played more minutes were left back Jay De Silva and right back Milan Van Iwick. So back four and the goalkeeper very established a lot of experience. Then you do have depth behind them. As you go forward, it gets a little bit trickier. Matt Grimes is the captain. He's probably going to start alongside your enchi. And then it's kind of a grab bag, including Haji Wright, who was their top goal scorer last season with 17 goals. He moved from a more wide attacker to a more central attacker. That seemed to benefit the team generally speaking, but he's still underperformed his XG. I think it was XG was like around 18.5. So I mean, he wasn't taking his chances as cleanly as he could have been. And then the other options maybe that could potentially challenge him just aren't proven at primarily level. Like so they could break through, but it's a lot of like 2526 year olds in and around the attack who've been very good. But we don't know if they can make that jump. And so it could be Efren Mason Clark from Jamaica. It could be Josh Eckles from England, Brandon Thomas Assante from Ghana, Sakado is a Japanese wide attacker whose name I cannot remember the first name I cannot remember. It just seems like they've got a bunch of options, but I don't know how much like elite difference they can make when you're a team that wants to like press high attack high, like go at the opposition as quickly as you can. Again, I think that works. If you are the best team in the championship, when you are the best team in the championship now trying to do that to establish Premier League teams, that's where I feel like it could be in for a rough road for Coventry City. But I just think this is about a long-term project. It's about getting them back to where they were. I'll be it back when Ryan was first driving and listening to Lindbus get pre bucket head, I think. And so it seems like they're going to try to maximize this season, the revenue they get, what they can do with that, how much they can reinvest it, how much they can basically give themselves better sporting infrastructure, and then like put themselves back in the in the window to be promoted the season thereafter. They may well stay up. They could spring a surprise. It does seem like a season in which the teams that are coming up have their work cut out for them against a lot of Premier League teams that either already did really well last season or have strength in a lot and would expect to do well this year. But I think Coventry, especially early on with the way they play, the aggressiveness, the top scoring team in the championship by a wide, wide margin. It does feel like there could be some goals, there could be some surprises along the way. Ultimately, I think they start to kind of fall down the table and then end up staying in the relegation zone for a good chunk of time. Yeah, it's been a it's been a wild ride for Coventry City. I've lost a couple of decades with the Riccaruna with that's to share with Northampton. You mentioned with Birmingham as well. They've had they've suffered a lot Coventry fans. I'm glad they're back at the top seat. Definitely. Yeah. And I think I have even more to say about your Enchi because I think he just he's he is going to shine for them in so many different ways. My like other prediction is that he will be playing either for a Premier League team next season or a Champions League team. And he feels like one of those that like somehow Bayern or Dortmund just pick up for like some amount of money and then he just becomes an every game starter for a high level Bundesliga team or a high level Serie A team or something next season. I think even if it's not a great season for Coventry, I think your Enchi is going to be a critical player for them and a key player in sort of a breakout way. Not the midfielder. I was hoping you would highlight Taylor. That would be actually over the legend. Jack Rodone, of course. Who? You know, logical. We met you. He has an American grandfather. He could be on US 17 if he does well this season. Maybe he's he's he's he's he's of a group like Frank on Yekka. I think is another one. He was their last season on loan. They've made him permanent for about eight million dollars. Rodone was like an incredible player for them. Incredibly consistent. Really strong. A good leader like leadership figure. Obviously that's the American in him. You're welcome for that. But like it's another one where they were really really good. I put him in like the Hajj right category of really good, really important last season. Can they do it in the Premier League? Can they kind of step up or grow their game enough as fast as they need to to keep those spots because others are coming in and could take them. So the business I think has been about like strengthening known areas on Yekka made permanent Gustavo Gustavo Omar from Sheffield United. He each of them brought in for eight million dollars. Omar had played for Coventry was sold in August of 2023. So they know the player. He's a little bit older, but they have some experience there. It feels like they've brought in players that make them better that give them consistency that give them stability but I don't know if they're going to really elevate them to that next caliber. Okay. Excellent stuff. And your VSP was that they will do the thing that's statistically most likely they will do. But not exactly manager, which is statistically unlikely. I don't know. I guess if did if switch did that they kept hearing McKinner. Yeah. I mean, I was going to mention Epswich is what I'm hearing Taylor as the kind of want to do an Epswich. We're on spoiler alert with not previewed them yet, but they're back in the Premier League this year. But the first time that they were in the Premier League, they kind of had a similar route where they'd been up and down to the visions. Maybe been promoted ahead of schedule. They spent that money on infrastructure and scouting and now it looks like they're back stronger. That kind of seems like what Coventry not that they're resigned to being relegated, but kind of feels like that. So I'm likely outcome for them. Yeah, that's a thing. That's a really good way to put it, Graham. It's not like resignation. It's not like we've got no chance. It just seems like there is like smart brains in the room who are sort of sea relegation is not terminal as a thing that can happen and how do we plan accordingly for it and how do we plan around it and build so that if we sit if we do stay up, how are we in a good position? But if we go down, how can we stay in a good position? It just seems like there's more logical thought. I might well be wrong. It's not as though I have a ton of expertise with Coventry City or their ownership model, but from everything I've read, it just feels like it has been smart logical decisions along the way, including sacking the manager and bringing in Frank Lampard, who has been very good for them. And like at a time when his stock was at a low, it was after the the second stint at Chelsea, where he's sort of like the babysitter for a Chelsea team that don't make any sense. And then he comes in and he has had an impact on this team. He's been able to recruit players, as I said, he's gotten them playing the way he wants them to play. Manager of the season last season, we'll see what the next one brings. Marvelous stuff. Thank you very much Taylor Rockwell. A little fact about me, I have swam competitively in two Olympic-sized swimming pools. One was in Coventry, the other was in Crystal Palace, Graham Rutherford. Wow. What a link. Wow. Hopefully not the giant glass exhibition centre that was destroyed in the fire in the 19th era, is that Crystal Palace F.C. are named after. Another one, another palace. I mean, I started driving in 2001, we've established out, I'm not that old, but thank you. But you started swimming in the 30s, right? That's it. He had quite the swimming career. I had one of those Victorian get-ups that I wore. Yeah. Like a, like a drawstring suit. Before you run, swim before you drive, I think that's the expression. That's right. Keep rolling, rolling, rolling. That's what I said, Joe. Yeah, there's a different swimming pool that you swam in. But yes, Crystal Palace, named after an actual Crystal Palace that no longer exists. Last season, there were points when it seemed overglassed or might burn Crystal Palace, the club down. What a link there between the two things. Such was his frustration that bubbled away over the course of the season. There was a period in the winter where he directly challenged the club's ownership due to the number of key players that he was losing. It seemed like the Mark Gahey transfer would be the final straw. And maybe it was because he ultimately left power sitting at the end of the season. But there was a point when people thought he would either resign or he would be fired. They lost to Mackelsfield in the FA Cup, obviously as defending FA Cup champions, which was a historically bad defeat. But he saw out the season, he steadyed things. And more than that, Palace ended up winning the conference league, the first European trophy. Only the second trophy in total in their entire history, obviously, Glasner won the first in the form of the FA Cup the season before. So that wasn't a bad way for all of our Glasner to sign off. There will be more about him in our Premier League previews to come later this week. But staying with Crystal Palace, that meant that they had to bring in a new manager over the summer. And they did that by hiring Pierre Saj, which I think that's how you pronounce that name. But he was Lawns manager last season. So he arrives in the Premier League with a good reputation. As I've mentioned already with my other team Brentford, they sang St. Gary from Lawns, but Lawns pushed PSG closer and league on last season than they had any right to do. So he's stock is quite high, but he's untested in English football. In terms of transfers, Maxence Laquat left to join Chelsea, which is a huge blow because he has been in my opinion their best defender these last few seasons. Brennan Johnson is also gone. That move did not work out at all for him after joining from Spurs, but Palace got Dwight McNeill for him from Everton. Any very rare genuine swap deal, which you do not see very often at the top level, those two players going in opposite directions. Otherwise, it has been a very quiet summer for Palace in the transfer market, because until a day ago, they actually hadn't spent a penny. As I said, Dwight McNeill was a swap deal, Oscar Minguesa and Taki Hero Tommy Asu, obviously former Arsenal defender. They both joined, but both as free agent signings. Anan Kalali has joined from Union Sinjouwa in the last like 24 hours as we're recording for roughly 20 million euros. He is a right winger, which is interesting for Xavier Goso, who is still expected to join, may have a little bit more competition than when we spoke about that last week, about that deal. Quite summer for Crystal Palace, maybe Glasgow was right all along, because I think some Palace fans are getting a bit exasperated about what they see as a lack of ambition for a club that has won a trophy in each of the last two seasons, and by winning the conference league last season, are into the Europa League this season, so they've got some real objectives to target. This season, not a lot of squad turnover so far. Palace might argue that the construction of their new £150 million main stand accounts for where a lot of their money is going right now. The construction on that project started that summer. It's projected to be finished by late 2028 or early 2029. That project has been really difficult to get off the ground, as long as I can really remember Crystal Palace. They've tried to develop that ground, so my women in season ticket in that stand. It is the oldest stand in the world. Yeah, I think it predates that Crystal Palace Palace. And it's part of the charm of Sellhurst Park, but it feels like I've seen about three or four different projects that I feel to get off the ground. So the fact that this one is actually happening is a big deal might be impacting things on the pitch. As I mentioned, Piersage is a politics new manager. Only his third gig is a manager, so he is fairly inexperienced. In fact, he hasn't even managed a hundred professional games as a coach. So that's something to keep in mind. As I mentioned, did a tremendous job at Long's last season. Obviously, there's an element of the unknown over policy style of play right now because of the managerial change. Long's were a really proactive team. They ranked as one of the best teams in Europe for high turnovers and when they won the ball back, they would attack at speed. Palace under Glazner were a vertical team. I thought of them as having like pressing triggers in their mid block. I don't know if I would count them as like a super aggressive team at a position in the way that Long's were under Saj. So it'll be interesting to see if he turns the dial up in that respect this season. So far in preseason, Saj is stuck with a back three, the shape that obviously all of our Glazner used. That means the width comes from the wing backs and then it's too narrow attacking midfielders behind a central striker. That's how Glazner's palace shaped up and it's how they've shaped up in preseason. It's also broadly how Long's on paper shaped up under Saj. So it seems like they've done a bit of research there. They see a bit of continuity while also maybe wanting to become slightly more proactive. It's just about whether they have the the players to do that. In terms of those players, they do still have some key players left despite selling so much talent. These these past couple seasons, Adam Warton, I think is Crystal Palace's prize asset. Now it's actually not guaranteed that he will still belong to Palace when the transfer window closes, but for the time being, he has one of their best players. He is really efficient. I'm a huge Adam Warton fan. I think he's destined for the top level. He's really efficient at playing forwards with the ball. He is the player who gives them an element of control in the center of the pitch. I think his defensive game could use some refinement, but he has huge huge potential. And when he eventually leaves any well, it will be for a lot of money. I think Palace won like 80 million plus for him when they look at someone like Elliot Anderson going for the money that he went for. In the attack, John Philippe Mateta was Palace's top scorer last season with 12 goals in the league. He is a proper focal point of a striker. He's a bit of a battering ram. He has got a terrific celebration where he assaults the corner flag and the fans shout boom. As he does, it is a whole thing. It's a whole routine. I love it. It's the best celebration in the Premier League. So he will probably be the starter at the the nine, even though he keeps getting linked with it with other clubs. Nothing has materialized yet. Palace spent big on Yorgon Strandlarsson in January. At this point, seems like he's going to be the depth striker behind Mateta, but as I say, the transfer window is still open. That could change. As Mila Sarp, he also warns a mention because he has done an excellent job of stepping into the Michael Alicia, Alicia slash Everett say, is he void? He's not quite up to that level. I don't want to oversell him, but he had 10 goal contributions in the league last season. He's quick on the break. I also think Sar makes really quick decisions in around the box, which I like a written pretty highly. And then Daniel Munoz is another player who is really important to the palace attack down the right side where he has the freedom to get forward at will. On paper, he has a right wingback, but when you watch palace, he's like a he's a right-sided forward to the way that he gets forward for this team. So he's really important. And then at the back, I have to mention a certain Chris Richards, the last remaining member of the back three that also included Laquah and Mark Gehe last season, they are both now gone. And Chris Richards, I think, is going to take on an even bigger role this season as a real leader for this, this Crystal Palace site. So it is a squad with quality, although not as much quality in past seasons because the number of stars that they have sold on for big money, which brings me on to my VSP, which is that palace will be in the top eight on Halloween. On October 31st, they will be in the top eight. They have a pretty kind start to the season, where up until the 31st of October, looking at their fixtures, I think they only play one talk quality team in that Manchester City, who as we saw in the Community Shield have their own weaknesses. But otherwise, they have games against Everton, Fulham, Epswich, Leeds, Forest, Brighton, and Newcastle until then. I think, obviously, the way that the Premier League is, there's quality in that list. But I think some of those matches will suit Palace. I think Palace will start strongly, even though Man City are the only team in the Premier League that had more players at the World Cup than Crystal Palace this summer, which is quite surprising. So some of their players might be a little bit jaded, but nonetheless, I think the continuity is going to help them start the season song. It starts the season strong. And then I think the problems could come as sage is asked to evolve things. That might be where they falter, but I think they're going to be a top eight side by the day in there. Keds are trekkled treating my house. That is definitely the spookiest, very specific prediction we've ever had on Total Soccer Showground. Well done. Thanks. Very good. Crystal Palace there. Let's take one more quick break. When we come back, it's Everton and Fulham. Hey, join us then. Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our Premier League previews. It is time to spend a few minutes talking about Everton Football Club. Hey, finished 13th last season, didn't they mid table in their first season in the hill, Dickinson Stadium got to the third round of both cups and no European campaigns. They only played 41 games. So not that many more than Manchester United played this last season. They ended the season pretty neatly as well. They didn't get any wins in their last seven games. They fell away quite badly on the David Moist last season. The season highlights included a winner old Trafford and a big 3-0 home win over Chelsea as well and that win over Chelsea was Game Week 31. They didn't win again after that. They basically had their best home performance against Chelsea and then they went on from knocking on the door of European competition to being thoroughly mid table to end the season. So David Moist, I think he's got a bit of a mixed, he gets a mixed reception, a mixed reception excuse me from Everton fans because of some of the ups and downs they have had. Only six wins in the no home of the Hilly Dick Stadium last season wasn't quite good enough. Beto being the top scorer as well. Fun fact for you though, Everton with the only club not to have a single VR decision go their way last season. No goals, no goals or what out. Three penalties turned out. Nothing went their way in terms of VR. But maybe something will go their way in other means this season. What have they done over the summer? Not enough. It's probably one I would suggest. There's some modest investment in the squad. They're going to likely need a bit more firepower to complement the aforementioned Beto and maybe Tiano Barry going forward. But they do have Brennan Johnson as mentioned previously in this episode as a wide attacker. One of those rest swap deals. As you mentioned there, Graham, you don't see what was the last swap deal we had? I honestly can't remember. Like a pure one. Yeah, like a pure swap deal where they just said you have him and we'll have him like no money as far as I'm aware pure swap. Yeah, mutually beneficial though. I think that leaves Johnson is going to be beneficial for Everton. I'll get into that a bit later on. Obviously he swapped the right meal. I did work out for Johnson. I'd say palace who took a hit on his on his feet as well. I think as you mentioned, Graham, hoping to recreate some of the former show in the previous clubs. Shameless Coleman's gone at the age of 56. Not yet filled the right back position there. There's a bit of frustration from Everton fans as we were called over the lack of action, certainly on that fullback spot as well. Players that have brought in though Hayden Hackney, Eliteration Zone, Hayden Hackney, Champo player of the season for Bura. Last season, in for 16 and a half million central defensive midfielder probably would have stayed at Bura if they were promoted, but obviously it's made to step up to the premier league. Just a guy who's gone to Saudi Arabia as well, replaced with Christian Nurgard from Arsenal. Another decent midfielder option they brought in for 7 million there as well. Jack Wilshi, not an Everton player. They did not get his loan converted to a permanent deal. Jack Wilshi, we're really winding the clock back there. Do you mean Griehlish? Jack Griehlish. It's been a long day, Graham. Thank you. Yeah. But Ryan was making jokes for a second there. I was like, is that, is he talking about like, they haven't reinvested enough? Okay. All right. I'll tell you about Shameless Coleman's compacture. His fellow players from back in the day. Sorry, but unlike me, who's not refreshed, they have a slightly refreshed score, I suppose, after the World Cup, I should say. Where Palace had a lot of players at the World Cup, Everton had three at the World Cup. One of them was a goalkeeper who probably isn't as worn out as an outfield player might be. One of them was for Scotland, so also not a long trip. Yeah, there you go. So I'd say the Everton do have a great spine of their team. Strong in the middle, and they've done some reinforcements there, but maybe need a bit of a workup top and that fall back because it's going to be a problem as well. James Garner, obviously, I think is big for them, not the Hollywood actor, the Everton player. Garner's a bit older. Ray's one of Premier League's most effective midfield disruptors. Yeah, Joe, you like that reference? That's a good point. I was old enough that I got it, actually. Nice. Garner, the soccer player, led the entire division in tackles and interceptions last season as well. So good stuff in the middle of the field, but it's all looking quite mid-table is my sort of top line analysis of Everton at the moment. Perhaps no thanks in part to Mr David Moise, his second falls, he's in back in charge, with Everton. Before we heard the news earlier this week about Scotland getting a new coach, I was going to suggest that David Moise might have a little career route, maybe by Christmas time, but that career route could still happen. I mean, it could still happen, I suppose. Maybe he's got an exit path ahead of him. Maybe he's got an exit ahead of him. I'm not sure. It depends how the wind's going to blow for David Moise, as I say, a bit up and down in terms of perception there. But I suppose he's got respect and scrutiny in equal measure. They kind of fit together quite well. Definitely he's a great organizer. He's done great things historically at Everton as well. But maybe there's a perception he has a ceiling he's maybe hit in terms of what Everton could do with David Moise and sometimes criticize him playing plays out of position and stuff like that. They should sack him like West Ham that they weren't a similar situation. Of course, everyone worked out totally fine for them. So yeah, I would be really sad if it doesn't go well for David Moise in the second state of everything, just because it feels like it was meant, it feels like he thought he could go to greener pastures and they thought they'd be okay without him and they had different managers and he had different experiences and now they're back together and you want it to stick. You want it to be the match that was indeed made and they end up finding success instead of David Moise's sacked and forced to manage someplace like Scotland. Just just to balance out Taylor, I feel nothing for David Moise. Now we're all at a wrong level all back to Moise. Graham, as long as we're interjecting in the middle of Ryan's preview, McIntyre and Alexis Encher's, that was a swap, right? Might have been, yeah, but actually that's the only other one that I could think of off the top of my head and I didn't have fact check it because I was busy being mesmerised by. And both of those, they worked out for both Arsenal and Manchester City. Yeah, really well. So mutually unbedeficial. That's what they call it. Yeah, very good. Excellent. So David Moise was the well-structured team he puts together, physical counter-attacking side. I'll get to counter-attacking a bit later on in my preview. Kind of style that I think might suit Brennan Johnson, actually, finding space on the counter. That's why I think he's going to fit in just fine around the Hilly Dicks' environs with the exception of last season's relegated clubs, Everton had the lowest average possession in the league last season. I'm loving my average possession so far in the previous. 43.7% of the ball they had last season. So I think that speaks a lot to the sort of counter-attacking nature of this team. They're not the immediate potatoes, David Moise, bunker and fire it long kind of thing. They're a bit more progressive, fast transitions, positive on the front foot. Certainly much more in this iteration of Everton. Key players, not the deepest squad I'd say. Come on, there's got to be some. Well, last year they made the least lineup change of any Premier League team. They made an average of 1.57 lineup changes per game. So that was suggest to me that David Moise ain't rotating as much. Well, he's literally not rotating as much as other managers. But in terms of the players, I would like to highlight Tyler Dibling, 20-year-old Wigger massively hyped, arrived from Southampton last year. But I don't think, I don't know, I'm not sure if David Moise loves him or if it's a required love because he barely got a sniff last year, Tyler Dibling. Only four league starts last year. Maybe some Dibling. Yeah, I mean, Dibling. I think there's maybe something going on in training or something. It doesn't seem justified the way he said so a few minutes. So I hope that he gets a few more minutes tired of Dibling this season. I mentioned Tiana Barry earlier as well. It seems to be the number one forward heading forward at this point in the campaign. Just need to see a bit more consistency for him. Obviously he has some great performances last season. I think they want to see a bit more of that from him. And when I mentioned James Gardner as someone else, I think sort of a great technician if you were a kid in Juicebury Hall as well. A very important part of the spine of the team. Great playmaker. Great work, right? He's a great work, great easy for me to say for Juicebury Hall. Yeah, very important. Sorry to interject. I think he was the big success of last season where it was all the hype about Jack Grelish coming on loan and didn't really make an impact for one reason or another injury. Obviously, you know, a big reason. Juicebury Hall was fantastic. And I think it was a big reason why Moise was allowed to. Because you're right, Ryan, this isn't a classic Moise team like they will play in the front foot more. They'll get in the half spaces. And Juicebury Hall is the player who allows them to do that. So I think actually in an attacking sense, like Beto and Barry are inconsistent. But you look at that forward line behind them. Like Juicebury Hall, Illuminum and Jay, I think had a really good season as well. I think Everton are struggling to keep hold of him. There's some interest from like, say, they're maybe on Turkey and him. But there's a lot to like in the final third while also accept in the frustration at not adding much over the summer. Yeah, so I have an important question for you at this point. We get to do a lot of video. The summer window is still open in MLS, yes? Yep. Does Jack Greenle's play for an MLS team in these MLS playoffs in the sprint season next spring? Or is it, are we waiting until the next full season of Major League Soccer for Jack Greenle's to make his debut in MLS? Given those three options, I think the last one feels like the most accurate. But I desperately need that to happen. And there needs to be an encyclopedia placed in the background of whatever announcement video. And we get here, Taylor, I really like where you're head's at. If only there were an MLS coach who, I know, brought Jack Greenle's through in England and maybe he could end up in a city that he'd like here in the banking clan. Jack Greenle, come on down. Time will tell. Very good. Back to Everton, my very specific prediction, Everton will score at least seven Premier League goals from counter attacking situations from fast breaks and they'll rank in the top five for that category in the division. Our last season, they had the lowest average position outside of relegated size as I mentioned. This is going to be a team that counters. As I've mentioned, and as Greg mentioned, got playing on the front for a lot more. Brydon Johnson, I think, is going to be a big part of that going forward as well. Lots of counter attacking. I think it's going to be a more exciting evidence. At least that's what I aspire to see from this episode inside. Last season, five counter attack goals. They scored this season. I'm up by two, baby. I'm going for seven. So that's what I'm going for. By the way, last season, the most counter attacking goals was Brentford. They had nine, just so you know, for the stats there. But there you go. That's my VSP. Everton, hopefully a bit more fun, hopefully a bit more countering and hopefully David Moise sticks around, although Joe doesn't care about that. Do you not have a VSP about how many times Jordan Pekford is going to do a big elaborate celebration to the crodes after making a save? That's got to be quite high. That's also exciting. Yeah, that's also exciting. I'm going to say that one as well. Okay, cool. Double VSP. Very good. Thank you, Greg. Excellent stuff. There we go. That's Everton. One more team to get to. We're running a little long on this episode. But listener, we've got the most unforgettable Premier League side imaginable. Full of them. Go, Larry. Tell us about it. Let's go. Full of them finished 11th last season on 52 points. 15th in terms of expected goal differential. Very consistent for full of them who have finished between 10th and 13th in all four of their seasons since they were promoted back to the top flight. Well, they've done over the summer. Well, Marco Soda who'd been in charge since 2021 left at the end of his contract taking over at Benfica. New manager Avaro Arbaloa. Yeah, the Real Madrid one. He's around. We'll talk more about him in just a minute. And also him being at the center of Fullham's near entire transfer strategy. More about that in just a second. Turns out goings. Lots of attacking talent has departed. Maybe the biggest Terry Wilson, who's off the leads on a free after leading Fullham in both goals with 10 and assists with seven last season. He was the 29 year olds best Premier League season ever. There's also been another big attacking exit in the form of Rao Jimenez. 35 year old number nine had nine goals last season. Was productive really in all three of his years at Fullham. Now he's back at Wolves after free transfer. Samuel Chugueze, who finished tied for third in goal contributions with seven while alone from Milan last year. He's back at his parent club. That's a big loss as well. So I said, Lugich, the 29 year old Serbian midfielder who started 20 games to them in the league is off to Ipswich. And Esa Diop, the 29 year old Moroccan center back who started eight games. Only eight games in the Premier League last season. Off to Ipswich now for 10 million euros. I could see more departures coming down the pipeline as well before all is is said and done here. I could also see more additions coming down the pipeline. But they've made some really interesting ones. They brought in a young striker, but an eight Ricardo Peppi despite all the flooding that had gone down there. And two different deals basically being agreed to before PSV said not. No, thanks. They've brought in Gonzalo Garcia, the 22 year old striker from Ramadred joins for 40 million euros. Played about a thousand minutes for Ramadred last season. scored six goals along the way. Scoring for Ramadred is a bit easier than scoring for Fulham. I would I would be so bold as to say, but still a really promising addition. Good positioning, aerial ability, hold up play, link player like a lot active presser, which I think is going to be really helpful for Fulham. I think he can get a bit more physical and maybe we'll need to get a little more physical for Fulham. But he is a fun young upcoming player. I like this swing a lot. Garcia is not the only Ramadred player brought in this summer. And there are certainly feels like our below like fingerprints all over this stuff. Since our Palacios, the 21 year old attacking midfielder from Ramadred, I was not really as familiar with him. He made five Luliga sub appearances last season. That was it for Ramadred and the league. There's some concerns about his physicality as well. But he's a smart young player who moves well on and off the ball. There's also been rumblings about Tiago Pitarch, the Ramadred defensive midfielder and how Fulham are interested in him. But Marinho has said, no, no, we want to keep him. That leads me to think that, yes, obviously there are below a fingerprints all over the stuff. And also that Fulham maybe would still like to make some moves before the end of the window. They have, though, added some non-round Madrid players. So I'll talk about those guys. Shay Charles, the 22 year old defensive midfielder from Southampton, has arrived for 30 million euros. Former Man City Academy player, active, defensively, pretty sharp ball carrier. I think his carrying is a bit better than his progressive passing. And they've also brought out a young striker for Bayern Munich. Jonah Kussi Isare, who's come in for 6 million euros, didn't really feature. It wasn't really in the play, it's for Bayern Munich. I still think there are big Fulham needs left. They need depth at center back or a center back who could have starting quality minutes. midfielder, again, that links to the Real Madrid link that I talked about just a minute ago. And I think they could really benefit from a winger. Again, think about the key players they lost in the attack. I don't know if they fully replace those guys, but time will tell. In terms of the manager, Alvaro Arabaloa is the new coach, 43 year old Spanish manager, former Liverpool and Real Madrid player. Play 50 plus times to Spain. Coaching career began and up to this point has only been at Real Madrid, where he was in the youth system, eventually became the coach of the top youth team there. Then the second team coach then became Inter and first team coach when Shabby Lonson was fired. I do love that we're getting in the Premier League here. The former Real Madrid coach Derby right out of the gates to open the club campaigns for Fulham and Chelsea. A big fan of that. Great work to the schedule makers on that front. I will admit, tactically, Arabaloa's style of play is pretty much a black box. I mean, we have zero sample size of him coaching a non-outlier first team. Real Madrid outlier club. The situation was not liar. He was a, we've broken glass already and there is an emergency appointment at Real Madrid. So we just don't really know what it looks like when he's coaching a real team and a real build up to a real season. A lot of guesswork, I think it's more likely that he will institute tweaks on Silva's approach rather than wholehearted changes. Last year Fulham finished ninth in possession in 14th and in PPTA. In other words, they really weren't trying to impose themselves on the game all that much, but they would go from the back at times. I think Arabaloa will tilt this team towards trying to be a little bit more possessiony out of maybe a sort of 4-2-3-1. That's going to be obviously fluid in possession. We see that all the time. I mean, he might try. Will he actually have the on-bowl ability to do that? I don't know. I really don't know. Fulham are something of a black box. I think tactically coming into the season, we could maybe see more pressing from the team with Garcia on board, but I'm really interested to see how this is all going to play out. In terms of key players, Bert Leno in goals, player to watch, center back, there is quality in terms of the first choices. Joaquin Anderson and Calvin Bassie are names that have been around for a while now. Right back, Kenny Tete could be someone to watch. Left back and center Robinson, though he is getting up there a little bit now. It's maybe not quite as reliable as he has been in the past. Defend to midfield, center burger, Shay Charles, quality there. center mid Alex Wobe and maybe not a lot of other great options, and a Wobe is maybe still not a natural double pivot. Sort of number eight, if that ends up being the look from from Oberloa. So that's an area to watch, for sure. Attacking midfield, there's quality here. Emil Smith-Roe, Ryan, I remember you highlighting Josh King last season. He got some run for Fulham. I see some of our Palacios, the young Ramadred former Ramadred player that I mentioned. I do like some of their options in the attack. Oscar Bob, Shadow Oscar Bob, he's in this team. Since our Palacios, again, to mention him, he could play in the half spaces. So his role could look a lot of different ways. And then Kevin, a promising winner there as well, and Gonzalo Garcia of top. There was quality in this team. Not 100% convinced about the depth, nor the top end talent for them to really be threatening for much this season. But who knows, right? This could be a situation where Oberloa has all the right buttons to press and the signings he's made really help elevate this team and Garcia as a smash hit. He scores 15 goals. And Palacios has eight and eight, and all of a sudden with Emile Smith-Roh and Oscar Bob, and the pieces deeper in midfield, there's enough solidity for them to be a top half team. Maybe more than just a mid table team, we'll see. But I don't know that I would bet on Fulham moving out of the Fulham zone at this point down the line. My VSP is that Gonzalo Garcia will be Fulham's one double-digit goal score. And that's where I think ultimately, there's still just not a lot of proven talent. Players I like, yeah, players where I could see having maybe an eight and eight or an eight and three season in case of an Oscar Bob or something along those lines. Last year though, Fulham only had one of those guys in Harry Wilson. I don't think they've meaningfully added enough other players who are going to put the ball in the back of the net. I'm really curious what Palacios and Bob and some others can do. But I think the safe bet is hedging against Fulham being this dynamic attacking team and more like they're going to be the Fulham that we have more or less come to expect over the years. Yeah, am I going over the top and being worried about Fulham? Like there's just so much that's unknown about their business. And like Gonzalo Garcia is someone, I think Taylor and I spoke about this on a show recently where I really like Gonzalo Garcia. Now I would have kept him if I were Real Madrid as like a depth center forward option. And yet I can't shake this sort of this vibe that he scores five goals for Fulham's this season and he's on loan at Hitafi in Lilliga next year. Like there's just such a big swing on so many of their on the additions they've made. And even on Arbaloa who you're absolutely right, you'll like we have with no idea what he is if he's any goods it just feels like Fulham have dipped their hand into a big old mystery bag and just pulled out whatever they could then I just don't know how to engage them at this point. Yep, I mean I don't disagree with any of that. I think to me it doesn't look like they have massively dropped off in any way. I don't I would be surprised if Garcia was not able to give them what him and his gave them and then you're hoping for a little bit of improvement from Bob some sort of contribution from Palacios and the rest of the attacking squad to replace what you lost in Harry Wilson which is not necessarily the easiest thing to do but it doesn't seem like an impossibility to me. Like to me it just feels like the needle really has it moved and maybe one or two more moves in the window will make me feel like yes they will absolutely stay in this zone or even creep up a little bit higher but I think your concern is not unfounded either. I just don't I don't think really enough has changed for me to think that they're going to wildly deviate from where they've been. There we go. Full of unknown in the Premier League. But also one of those. It's one of those. It's a gram there and I know. There we go. It's honestly like I don't mean to forget them. I just do. It's just the way my mind works unfortunately. I was just laughing earlier like gram being like it raises big questions about full of them like are they a club and where do they exist and are we sure they're a club? The film's very nice. I've never been to a game of club in college but I've walked around it and around the river. It's a very nice place to play a football and be a fan at the match. It is. It's a very nice spot as you say right on the river terms there. You can watch the boat race from no gram. It's wonderful. From the swimming pool. From the swimming pool on their main stand. Yeah. Very good. Very good stuff. Thank you very much. Jot for your full of preview there. That's episode two of our Premier League previews in the bag. On the next episode we're going to talk about how Ipswich leads Liverpool and Manchester City is plenty to come on the feed. For now, Taylor Rockwell, thank you very much. Indeed, we appreciate you, sir. I appreciate you all. Thank you so much. No, great, brother. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ryan Billy. Thank you very much, Joe Larry. Hey, thanks, Ryan. And thank you very much again, this time for joining us on this one. We'll be back with part three of our previews very shortly. Be but for now. Bye.