On August 16, the opening game of the 2016-17 season came as scheduled.
The first game of the first round is between Hull City, the newly promoted team this season, and the creator of last season's miracle, the defending Premier League champion Leicester City.
This Premier League opening game has attracted much attention from European media and fans.
Many people want to see whether Leicester City, who won the Premier League championship, will die after enjoying themselves.
Will the twin stars of Vardy and Mahrez still shine?
Is Ranieri, the amazing coach, still amazing?
In this season's transfer window, Leicester City is not short of money at all.
Leicester City’s income from Premier League broadcasts alone is more than 90 million pounds.
The sale of Chu Zheng cost another 100 million pounds. Although 20 million euros will be given to Wolfsburg, the remainder is still very considerable.
In order to prepare for the new season of the Champions League and fill the holes left by the departure of midfielders Chu Zheng and Kante, Leicester City introduced a number of strong players in the summer transfer window.
A total of more than 80 million pounds was spent.
The most eye-catching one is that Leicester City spent 13 million euros to acquire French midfielder Nampalise Mendy from Ligue 1 club Nice.
After signing the French midfielder, Leicester City sporting director Steve Walsh even joked to the media that they had found another Kante, who could make up for the loss of Leicester City after Chu Zheng and Kante left.
The problem of a sharp decline in midfield defensive ability.
Judging from last week's matchup between Leicester City and Manchester United in the English Community Shield, Ranieri's team's defensive counterattack is still quite sharp.
Although the media and fans believe that the miracle will not happen again this season, the strength of the Foxes led by Ranieri cannot be underestimated.
Therefore, before the game, the media and fans were optimistic about Leicester City playing away games.
As a result, they were collectively slapped in the face.
The newly promoted Hull City relied on the home advantage and finally handed the Premier League champion Leicester City their first defeat of the season with a score of 2-1.
After the game, countless famous England stars showed up to analyze the game.
Whether it is Ferdinand or Lineker or Owen and Lampard, they all clearly pointed out that the departure of Kante and Chu Zheng will have a huge impact on Leicester City's midfield.
Especially Chu Zheng's departure has a devastating impact on Leicester City's offensive and defensive ends.
In the match against Hull City, Leicester City could no longer see the highly penetrating, fatal, and highly entertaining pass that Chu Zheng sent last season.
Drinkwater and Mendy, Leicester City's new midfield partner, were also analyzed by the media and fans after the game.
Compared with Chu Zheng and Kanter, these two are more than one level behind.
Mendy is not as strong as Steve Walsh says he is.
Although this player has the same size, skin color, and nationality as Kanter, and has a wide running range, he does not have Kanter's magical tackling ability, which makes people feel a little disappointed.
Drinkwater, whom Raniere used to replace Chu Zheng in both the offensive and defensive ends of the team, was even more incomparable to Chu Zheng's performance.
Although Drinkwater performed well in the game against Hull City and contributed on both offense and defense, he could not deliver the ball like Chu Zheng, nor did he have Chu Zheng's ability to control the rhythm of the game.
Especially in the second half, after Drinkwater was strictly restricted tactically by Hull City, Drinkwater, who lacked the ability to escape and move forward, completely struggled with Vardy and Mahrez in the midfield.
The twins lost contact.
The next day, August 17, Manchester City ushered in the first game of the season, facing Black Cat Sunderland at home.
Sunderland ranked 17th in the Premier League last season, only 3 points away from Newcastle United in the relegation zone, which can be said to be a thrilling escape from relegation.
In this summer transfer window, Sunderland, who had a tight transfer budget, only spent 19 million pounds and hastily announced the end of signings for the new season.
But their biggest signing was not in the transfer market, but the famous England coach Moyes.
David Moyes' experience as a player was very similar to that of Ferguson and Wenger, neither of whom were very successful players.
But when they came to the head coaching position after retiring, their unique talents made them an excellent coach.
The same is true for Moyes. This time he returns to the Premier League. Black Cat fans can hope that he can once again build a new 'Toffees'.
Sunderland club executives also hope to save the team from relegation by changing the head coach and bringing in a new tactical system.
But unfortunately, before the new season has even started, the media broke the news that there was a conflict between Moyes and Sunderland's senior management.
Because the senior management of the Sunderland club let Moyes go.
It is said that after Moyes came to Sunderland, he did not receive the signing support previously promised by the Sunderland club executives.
As a result, Moyes had to recruit old players such as Pienaar and Anichebe through his own connections.
Although neither Moyes nor Sunderland have acknowledged this report, the authenticity of this news can actually be confirmed from the transfer market.
Therefore, Black Cat fans are very upset!
As for Manchester City, the tactical system that Guardiola brought to Manchester City after taking office has begun to bear fruit, and everything is developing in a better direction.
As the current fleet commander of Manchester City, Chu Zheng once again showed his phenomenal strength in the last 8-0 match against Steaua Bucharest. The media once again praised Chu Zheng.
Manchester City fans could not be more satisfied with Chu Zheng.
Manchester City fans are not blind either. They have all seen the changes that Chu Zheng’s joining has brought to Manchester City’s midfield.
At around 5 pm London time, the Etihad Stadium next to Manchester city center was already overcrowded.
In the Manchester City locker room, the Manchester City players were laughing and playing in a relaxed atmosphere, seemingly not worried about the upcoming game.
Chu Zheng leaned against his locker and seemed to have his eyes closed, but in fact he was looking at his personal attributes panel.
For more than a month, Chu Zheng carried out physical reserve training like he was risking his life, and he could barely bring his physical fitness, which had dropped to 78, back to above 80.
It will take a long time to return to the peak value of last season.
The only thing that gives Chu Zheng a headache is the free kick.
Chu Zheng practices free kicks every day, but his progress is very limited.
"Bah! Guys, it's time!" After a while, Arteta appeared at the door of the locker room, clapping his hands and calling everyone to come on!
At 0:50 BJ time, the signal is connected to the LeTV sports live broadcast room.
As soon as the screen appeared, the starting lineups of Manchester City and Sunderland appeared.
Manchester City:(4231)
Goalkeeper: Caballero
Defenders: Sagna, Stones, Kolarov, Clichy
Midfielder: Fernandinho, David Silva
Attacking midfielder: Sterling, De Bruyne, Chu Zheng
Forward: Aguero
"Manchester City's starting lineup is basically the same as the starting lineup announced on the Premier League official website before the game!"
"Chu Zheng played the midfielder position in this game. Guardiola should still hope that Chu Zheng can give full play to his offensive talents, while David Silva will be responsible for the offensive organization of the midfield and backfield.
Chu Zheng is responsible for the secondary offensive organization in the frontcourt, while De Bruyne is still a free agent in the frontcourt!"
Hearing Zhan Jun's words, Zhang Lu shook her head and smiled. She had a different opinion and said: "Not necessarily. You have to wait until the fight starts to see Guardiola's formation clearly. Of course, you may not be able to see it at all."
Understand!"
"Haha!" Hearing Zhang Lupi's words, Zhan Jun laughed loudly, "Yes, Guardiola is a master of tricks, no one can guess what he is thinking."
"It's like Kolarov played as a central defender today. I can't understand it now!"
"Some head coaches choose center backs based on defense, but Guardiola is different. The first thing he considers is how well you play." Zhang Lu was also happy, "This is a world-famous player like Guardiola.
Handsome and confident, he firmly believes that the ball will be in his own hands most of the time!"
Defenders: Van Aanholt, Kabul, Lamine Kone, Donald Love
Goalkeeper: Mannone
"This English black cat has always liked to lose in the first half of the season, and then madly grab points to avoid relegation in the second half of the season. This strange phenomenon has even become the team's culture."
"Although Sunderland invited Moyes this season, they are still weak in the transfer market. It is estimated that their situation in the Premier League in the new season is still not optimistic."
"It's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice!" Zhang Lu summed it up well.
The time for the Champions League play-off matches has been modified.
