When they were relegated over a year ago, Newcastle United, as a club, were almost as optimistic as they had been for a long while.

After a few years of stagnation during Alan Pardew’s final years at the club, and after a steady decline after that, there was an understandable appetite for change. Rafael Benitez – who started the season as Real Madrid manager – provided it, but whether that change was to take place in the Premier League or the Championship didn’t really matter in some ways. What mattered was that things would be different.

The step backwards to the second tier was seen as a chance to get a running jump, and after a couple of blips along the way last year, it worked. Newcastle were promoted as winners the big time beckoned.

Perhaps the optimism came from the fact that the club seemed to have a plan. For the first time in years, there seemed to have been the right kind of thought put into player recruitment and strategy. Georginio Wijnaldum and Moussa Sissoko were sold, but for hefty price tags, allowing the club to spend quite a bit of money overhauling their relegated squad.

They may have been one of the most expensively assembled squads in second tier history, but people forget the sales which freed up the money to sign the likes of Dwight Gayle and Matt Ritchie.

They’d put together a squad with the aim of conquering the Championship, though. Not the Premier League. Players who knew the league and whom they knew could perform in it were signed. But the narrative of an ambitious Newcastle filled with optimism and splashing the cash is perhaps a factor in why they now look so overly unprepared for the start of the new Premier League season.

Like a student who’s forgotten about today’s exam, Newcastle look oddly unprepared for life back in the top flight. With Dwight Gayle leading the line, the Magpies have looked pitifully toothless up front whilst their organisation at the back will only take them so far over the course of the season.

In the first game, at home to Tottenham, clearly the red card to Jonjo Shelvey changed the game somewhat. Spurs were superior on the ball up until that point, but they hadn’t created much at all. That all changed with the sending-off, but it’s not to say that Spurs wouldn’t have squeezed out a winner before the final whistle.

The second game saw Newcastle create some decent chances, but the performance level was nowhere near good enough for a side who should really be looking to take points off a side like Huddersfield if they’re to have an acceptable season.

All of this is to say that, whilst Newcastle did everything right last year by carving out a Championship squad, they didn’t then go out and do the same thing a year later to give themselves a Premier League squad, and perhaps the most obvious is the fact that they’re still relying on Dwight Gayle up front, a man who scored 15 Premier League goals in three seasons at Crystal Palace.

And even though Joselu has been added to the squad, either as a Gayle replacement or another striker to add a bit of competition, it’s hardly the most inspiring of signings. Much like the rest of the additions this window.

It’s not even about the signings the missed out on, like Tammy Abraham and Willy Caballero, who would have been underwhelming, too. Abraham isn’t a proven Premier League goalscorer and Newcastle have four goalkeepers already.

Time will tell if Newcastle have done enough this summer with their squad renovations. It’s entirely possible that Joselu proves critics wrong and becomes a potent Premier League goalscorer, or that Matt Ritchie reaches another level of performance thanks to the Benitez factor and a lift from the St James’ Park crowd. But these things look unlikely from this vantage point.

Two games into the new season is no time for knee-jerk reactions, but Newcastle don’t seem to have gone about the summer in the clever way they did last year, and the first two games do nothing to dispel the worry that a poor transfer window brings.

According to reports in The Independent, Manchester United see Tottenham Hotspur left-back Danny Rose, whose current deal in worth £70,000-a-week according to The Mirror, as a potential solution to their summer search for a new wide player after a move for Inter Milan star Ivan Perisic stalled.

What’s the word, then?

Well, The Independent says that Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho has grown frustrated in his attempts to bring Perisic and Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale to the club this summer, and the Portuguese manager is continuing to assess his options.

The Independent says that in an ideal world he wanted to sign a wide attacker and two full-backs but the forward role is now seen as a priority as he is unlikely to get all three.

The report says that United baulked at bringing in Perisic when Inter refused to budge on their £48m valuation, while Bale’s future could depend on Real’s interest in Monaco teenager Kylian Mbappe.

The Independent says that as Mourinho intends to play three at the back next season, Rose is seen as potential solution to play in the left wing-back role or even further forward although Tottenham don’t want to sell after already losing Kyle Walker to Manchester City.

How did Rose do last season?

The 27-year-old’s campaign was blighted by knee and hamstring injuries – he missed the final four months of the season with the latter – but he still scored two goals and provided a further four assists in 21 appearances in all competitions.

Would he be a good signing for United?

He certainly would be.

Rose has established himself as one of the best left-backs in the Premier League and for England in the last few seasons and he could add some experience and attacking prowess to the Red Devils side.

Mourinho looks to need a left-back too as he is yet to be convinced by Luke Shaw and with Matteo Darmian often forced to play out of position in the role last season.

Could they actually get him?

It seems unlikely.

Having already sold Walker to Man City, Tottenham will demand big money if Rose is to leave as well, and having refused to meet a £48m valuation for Perisic it remains to be seen how far they would be willing to go to get the England left-back.

Neymar has told Brazil teammate Philippe Coutinho that he will not regret Liverpool’s decision to keep Barcelona at bay, according to Estadao.

What’s the word?

The Catalan giants have been chasing Coutinho all summer, and it has been widely reported that the playmaker is keen to move to the Camp Nou.

Earlier this month, The Guardian reported that Coutinho had handed in a transfer request, but so far, Liverpool have stood firm in their stance that he is not for sale.

Barcelona have failed to persuade the Reds to discuss a deal after having three bids rejected, the most recent of which the Daily Mail reports was worth £114m.

The former Inter Milan star, who is currently on international duty with Brazil, has reportedly been warned off a move to Barcelona by none other than the club’s former player Neymar.

According to Brazilian newspaper Estadao, the 25-year-old has told Coutinho that “he won’t regret Liverpool’s decision to keep him away from Barcelona”.

Neymar’s relationship with Barca, where he played for four years, has turned sour since he completed a world-record £198m move to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer.

Could this make a difference?

It is known to be a usual tactic of Barcelona to have their key players speak publicly about transfer targets in a bid to help their cause in trying to sign them.

On this occasion, Neymar – albeit no longer a Barcelona player – has done the opposite.

If Coutinho regards his fellow countryman as a good friend, then the 25-year-old’s words could make a difference in whether or not he continues pushing for a move to Spain.

With the window closing in just two days’ time, it seems more and more likely that the playmaker will be forced to stay at Liverpool.

Neymar’s reassurance, though, could help Coutinho adapt his outlook and accept the fact that he may have to remain at Anfield for at least another season.

Former Chelsea target Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his first Liverpool start in their 2-0 defeat against Leicester City in the third round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday night, and Blues fans are glad they didn’t sign him following a disappointing performance.

The 24-year-old rejected a move to the Blues after the Premier League holders had agreed a fee with Arsenal in favour of joining Jurgen Klopp’s men in a £35m deal on transfer deadline day, and he was named in the starting line-up on the right wing having been a substitute for the matches against Manchester City, Sevilla and Burnley.

However, it was a night to forget for the England international as a number of misplaced passes and poor set-pieces summed up a frustrating night for him and his club.

Chelsea supporters were quick to have their say on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s performance via social media, and while some say they “dodged a bullet” by not signing him, others feel it was a “lucky escape”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Southampton suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at St Mary’s on Saturday, but Saints fans were once again impressed with Mario Lemina’s performance.

The Gabon international put in a man-of-the-match display in the win against Crystal Palace last weekend and if any of the St Mary’s faithful were wondering whether he could perform against the top teams in the Premier League too, they got their answer on Saturday.

The former Juventus man was once again influential in the middle of the park, showed some nice touches and bits of skill and got the better of the Red Devils midfielders on a number of occasions throughout the 90 minutes.

Southampton supporters were quick to have their say on his showing via social media, and while some say he is “a cut above everything else we have”, others already believe that “he’s going straight to the top”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks posted on his official Twitter account after playing the full 90 minutes in his side’s impressive 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night, and Spurs fans were quick to praise him.

The 21-year-old was struggling for game time under Mauricio Pochettino earlier in the campaign and he featured for just 32 minutes in their opening six Premier League matches this term.

However, injuries to Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama have seen him start the north London outfit’s last four matches in all competitions, and he made a huge impression against players like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos on what was a daunting occasion against the Champions League holders.

Tottenham supporters took to social media to react to the England international’s latest post, and while some said they were “so proud” of him, others said “you’re staying forever”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Generally speaking, Martin Atkinson is one of the Premier League’s more lenient referees. Last season, he ranked in the bottom half from the 19 referees to work in the top flight for fouls per match, fouls per tackle and yellow cards per match.

But so far this season, we’ve seen a more active side to the 46-year-old. He’s one of ten referees to have already issued a red card, while he’s already awarded 13 yellows from just five games – a rate of 2.6 per match putting him eighth in the booking charts. On top of that, he’s risen from 13th to seventh for fouls per game and fouls per tackle.

Based on current evidence, that spells particularly news for West Ham, with Atkinson scheduled to officiate their Premier League clash against Brighton on Friday night. The Hammers currently have the worst disciplinary record in the Premier League; 18 yellows and two reds from just eight games; and that’s cost them dearly this season.

Marko Arnautovic’s sending off gave them almost no chance of beating Southampton earlier in the campaign and they eventually lost 3-2, while Andy Carroll received a double-booking for two flailing elbows against Burnley last time out – a match that saw the Irons eventually surrender a late goal to leave Turf Moor with a single point.

In direct contrast, Brighton have behaved themselves since gaining promotion to the Premier League. Only four clubs have incurred less bookings so far this season and they’re yet to see a player sent off.

If West Ham are to avoid an upset against the Eagles on Friday night, their discipline simply must improve. And in another worrying omen for the Irons, their last match Atkinson officiated was the 4-0 demolition at the hands of Manchester United when he, rather fittingly, issued them two yellow cards.

Chelsea’s decision to loan out Kurt Zouma during the summer certainly raised some eyebrows. The France international struggled to replicate his prior form after a lengthy injury layoff but it wasn’t long ago he was being revered as one of the best young defenders in Europe, let alone the Premier League.

Why, for example, spend so much on Antonio Rudiger when there’s such a promising youngster, already experienced at first-team level and well integrated into the Chelsea squad, at Antonio Conte’s disposal? Well, Zouma’s Man of the Match performance against Watford on Saturday highlighted exactly what his game still lacks to become a Blues great under the Italian.

Defensively, Zouma produced nothing short of an incredible display; a return of four tackles, 14 clearances and eight clearances speaks for itself, playing a pivotal role in Stoke City claiming a clean sheet at Vicarage Road – something only Brighton and Manchester City have also managed this season.

But Conte’s three-man defensive setup requires quality on the ball, especially in the wide centre-back roles, and that’s where Zouma continues to struggle. Of course, not too much can be read into a performance that saw Stoke take less than 30% possession en route to a 1-0 win. But even so, the 23-year-old’s passing accuracy was just 27%.

To put that into context, it was the worst rate of any player on the pitch, ranking even lower than goalkeeper Jack Butland. During his parent club’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth, on the other hand, centre-backs Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and the aforementioned Rudiger averaged 94% passing accuracy between them. Even fellow Potters centre-backs Ryan Shawcross and Kevin Wimmer both had a passing accuracy above 65% against the Hornets.

Of course, we’re talking about two very different kinds of away performance with completely polarised dynamics; Stoke entered Saturday as the underdogs, whereas Chelsea were always expected to see plenty of the ball against the Cherries. But it nonetheless epitomised the only aspect still missing from Zouma’s game – the consistency and quality to be productive on the ball.

While the Frenchman is a fantastic defender, limited quality in possession will stop him from reaching his full potential in Conte’s system. More than anything else, that’s what Zouma must improve upon before he returns to Stamford Bridge next summer.

To celebrate 25 years of the Premier League each week in Football Fancast we’re going to be looking back at a memorable game that took place on the corresponding date. This time out we revisit a glut of goals at Elland Road in a fixture fast making a name for itself.

From 1990 to the start of this century something strange began to happen to Leeds United v Liverpool fixtures. Among the everyday results and low-scoring draws a string of fantastical score-lines and high-drama began to make this already tempestuous match-up an unmissable proposition. Even on the occasions when both sides nullified the other, the contest would be settled by a worldy such as Tony Yeboah’s astonishing thunder-thwack in 1995, a strike so stunning to the senses it jolts the viewer from their seat even though they’ve witnessed it many times before.

This odd phenomenon all began on April 13th 1991 when Howard Wilkinson’s Leeds and Graeme Souness’ Reds ding-donged their way to a 5-4 thriller at Elland Road that saw Lee Chapman score a hat-trick to no avail. A little over a year later at Wembley in the Charity Shield another Leeds striker took home the match ball and this time as a winner as Eric Cantona reigned supreme in a 4-3 exhibition of adventurous attack and awful defending that nicely set up the new experiment known as the Premier League.

On November 4th 2000 the spell in which this fixture had fallen under was broken with yet another seven-goal white knuckle ride. Once again it finished 4-3 to the Yorkshire giants with a Leeds forward dominating the headlines but on this occasion Mark Viduka went one further scoring all four goals. Following his £6.5m move from Celtic that summer the Revie Stand faithful had a new hero.

This was the year when Liverpool, under Gerard Houllier, went absolutely mental, taking it upon themselves to single-handedly provide football with every memorable moment. They won the UEFA Cup in a final containing nine goals; they won the FA Cup with a sensational late turn-around against Arsenal; they won the League Cup on penalties. They even threatened to win the league in stages.

As for Leeds the first throes of the 21st century was when they ramped up their ambition to unchartered heights. Already blessed with a brilliant nucleus of young players they had little hesitation in breaking the British transfer record for Rio Ferdinand, additionally bringing in Oliver Dacourt from France and Viduka. In December they further added to an already fearsome frontline by loaning in Robbie Keane from Inter and if their third place finish the previous May had revealed they meant business they now clearly had a title in their sights.

So perhaps this was always going to be a ferociously competed, highly engaging contest yet how often do these disappoint, failing to live up to expectation and hype? That was definitely not the case here.

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Sami Hyypia broke the deadlock early with a glanced header and then on 18 minutes Christian Zeige –sporting the worst haircut since peroxide was invented – doubled the visitor’s lead. Viduka pulled one back shortly after and it was very much game on.

As impressive a squad as Leeds had it was to their enormous credit that David O’Leary’s men didn’t crumble going two behind ravaged as they were with injuries. Ten starters were unavailable and on the bench sat four debutants with the fifth spot not taken to fully illustrate their depletion of options. There was an extra dimension of resilience to the celebrations then when their Australian striker headed home an equaliser just after the break.

Now it was Liverpool’s turn to receive credit. Having seen their lead snatched away, Vladimir Smicer restored it on the hour mark with a neatly dispatched finish. This time it lasted barely ten minutes before Viduka was at it again, controlling a strong pass on the edge of the box and confusing the hell out of Patrick Berger with an unorthodox turn before firing home a third. For the Czech midfielder it was ill-fortune that was compounded moments later as he crashed to the turf under a heavy challenge one of many dished out by a vigorous Leeds side that afternoon with the Telegraph later deeming their strategy ‘disgraceful’. Berger was stretchered off.

The game had only just resumed when a simple throughball had Viduka one-on-one with Sander Westerveld but hampered by a wide angle. A deft flick saw the ball nestle into the far corner and carnage ensued. “Every time I had a sniff of goal I scored. These days are very rare,” the striker said later failing to hide his delight with a broad beam. According to the BBC it was a ‘stunning drama’ that left Liverpool ‘broken and beaten’.

What happened next?

Liverpool completed a famous treble, entertaining one and all along the way. Their incredible season was tainted however with the sad news of Joe Fagan’s passing at the age of 80. Their former manager had also guided the Reds to three trophies back in 1984.

Leeds were very much a team on the up, finishing fourth in the Premier League and surprising the continent by reaching the semi-final of the Champions League. Surely glory years beckoned?

Manchester United had a slow start to their Premier League game against Watford on Tuesday night, but in the end managed to earn a 4-2 victory at Vicarage Road.

Ashley Young scored twice, while Anthony Martial put the team 3-0 ahead.

The Hornets came close to performing a comeback by scoring twice in the final 13 minutes, but Jesse Lingard’s strike wrapped up the win for the Red Devils.

During the second half there was cause for concern from an injury standpoint as Nemanja Matic asked manager Jose Mourinho to substitute him.

The midfielder suffered a muscular problem, but the extent of the injury is not yet known.

The news, though, is bad timing considering that United face Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League within the next 12 days.

The club also have a Champions League group game against CSKA Moscow during that period.

As expected, when Matic made way for Ander Herrera, fans expressed concern for the midfielder.