Welcome to the first ‘what the fans are saying’ article of the season, where I assess the latest thinking of Premier League clubs’  supporters about their team’s chances of success in their next fixture. With lots to mull over during pre-season Gameweek 1’s article is divided into two parts as the fans look at both the next game and the season ahead. This section also includes a conclusion looking at the Premier League as a while. Part 1 can be found here.

Manchester United

The Jose Mourinho revolution is upon us. The fans don’t like him because they still consider him to be Chelsea, but they’ll give him a chance. They like their team but it’s still lacking something. They worry about scoring enough goals. Despite having some goalscorers they fear their side lacks creativity still and the speed of their attacks is too slow at the moment.

Anthony Martial is predicted to score about five goals more than Mkhitaryan but should provide less assists. They don’t think Marcus Rashford will start but he is one of their favourite players. He creates space and dribbles with the ball well, making them more effective. They will beat the lower teams well, but can they score against the bigger teams?

Finally, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They are happy he’s in the team and he can hold the ball up well but he won’t score anyway near the 25 goals that he did last year, not in this setup. However, it is too early to tell.

Outlook: Challenge for the title. Wait and see

Middlesborough

The ‘Boro fans don’t think they’ll be relegated. They have an interesting team and it has become more interesting since they signed Alvaro Negredo. He fits in well with the system and the fans love his strength and touch. He brings others into play and doesn’t lose the ball, ever. Jordan Rhodes also excites them; he is a natural goalscorer and so they have good competition up front as well as the chance to play two strikers. Victor Fischer has also impressed the ‘Boro fans and he is also good technically. Gaston Ramirez is another part of the attacking puzzle they like and they hope he can score about eight goals this year. Their problems so far have been their defence. However, they haven’t conceded many in pre-season and with the way their manager Karanka sets up the team they are unlikely to. So the team looks fairly balanced. The fans think they won’t score very many but they are strong enough to get good results all round. The first game of the season will be a low scoring one that they hope to win, but they agree that they will concede, because key defender Daniel Ayala isn’t playing.

Outlook: Positive about avoiding relegation

Best players: Daniel Ayala and Alvaro Negredo

Southampton

Southampton fans are either undecided or pessimistic about the forthcoming season. They have lost some good players and haven’t replaced them with very much. However, the club seems to find a way to win nonetheless and this could be another season that looks bad but could go all right. A big problem for the Saints is the loss of Sammy Lee, he’s a good coach and they really liked him. On the transfer front, they don’t mind Nathan Redmond, at least he’s young and has potential but they know he has weaknesses too. They don’t think Jay Rodriguez or Charlie Austin will play full seasons because of their injury histories so Shane Long is the safer bet in attack. They still have a decent top ten defence as well.

The formation is the interesting part. They aren’t sure what exactly it’s going to be but the formations have all had fullbacks bombing forward, the strikers split and the player in the number 10 role is sometimes the furthest forward and influences the game the most. That’s good news for Dusan Tadic owners as he has made that role at the tip of a midfield diamond his own in pre-season. Redmond’s role as a striker is also beneficial.  The formations are good because Southampton have a lot of pace and the ball gets moved very quickly. Their weakness is the space behind their fullbacks. Southampton fans think Redmond will start up front and that they will win against Watford.

Outlook: Waiting to see. It will all be about those formations.

Best players: Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond

Swansea

Swansea forums are awash with transfer threads. The problem is Swansea are really struggling financially. The wages were spiraling out of control and now they fear the club wil go into a consolidation phase, which means no money for transfers. Andre Ayew’s departure hasn’t troubled them though as they always thought he ruined the shape of the team and got in Gylfi Siggurdson’s way. In relation to Ashley Williams, they call him old and Swansea got the best years out of him. Overall they seem quite happy with their squad considering.

They are quite happy with their new striker signings as well. They think they’ll beat Burnley on the opening day of the season. It’s a pity Mo Barrow is classed as a forward he could’ve been the next Mahrez, they feel. Jordi Amat is the 4.0m defender of choice. They think they’ll win their opener perhaps 2-0 or 2-1 away to Burnley.

Outlook: Optimistic despite money fears.

Sunderland

Sunderland fans would like to get some of the loanees they had last season back, like M’Vila and Yedlin. Sunderland seem quietly content and they actually like some of their players. They like Lamine Kone, Jan Kirchoff and of course Jermain Defoe. They are also pleased to have David Moyes as manager. He will be under financial restraints but that isn’t his fault and the fans will give him a chance. He will be there for the long run, is the consensus. Their main concern is that Kone could be on his way to Everton which they hope won’t happen.

Outlook: Quietly content. 

Stoke

Stoke fans think they’ll start with their normal formation. The 3-5-2 formation was apparently used because Mark Hughes had no wingers available for the preseason. The Stoke fans hope this is the case because it doesn’t look good and they don’t have the players to fit into it.

They aren’t as happy about their defence as they used to be but are relatively happy with their team. They know a lot of high profile players will be bench warming at some points this season and hopefully it can be managed well. They lack a strong centre back and that is their real weakness, but they are excited by their squad. Stoke think they’ll beat Middlesborough away and at the very least will score.

Outlook: Good, another decent season perhaps 9th place for the fourth year running.

Tottenham

Spurs fans are content with their largely uninspiring transfer window because they have a settled team and haven’t lost any of their stars.  They have added a few pieces but there isn’t much news here.  There is optimism that the team can seriously challenge for the title this term and think they will start brightly. They will go to Goodison Park trying to win the game and not just battle for a point, with a 2-1 win the popular prediction.

Outlook: Going for the title with a settled team.

Best player: Harry Kane

Watford

Watford think they are candidates to go down, but hopefully there will only be one spot to fight for after Hull and Burnley. Troy Deeney is still their main man and leader. Hopefully the new manager can make the team more athletic around the pitch but the new Watford book is yet to be opened. They don’t know what will happen, it will either be or a thriller or a tragedy. They still have no creativity in midfield and will rely on their strikers again. Odion Ighalo is a concern. Can he do well again this season after such a bad second half? Deeney though will have a really good season they think. They can’t defend, they can’t finish apparently and there’s even been booing in friendlies. They think they’ll lose heavily to Southampton.

Outlook: Hoping at least three other teams are worse.

Best Player: Troy Deeney

West Brom

West Brom fans still loathe Tony Pulis just because he makes every team he manages boring. In pre-season West Brom are still a creative desert and they have low expectations that 2016/17 will be any different. They still play on the back foot and hoof it up to the loan striker. Its the 1970s all over again in the Midlands. On the plus side they anticipate lots of clean sheets and are happy with the purchase of Matt Philips from QPR. They fear he will spend too much time having to defend though under Pulis.  Also, defender Gareth McAuley is 36 and won’t play every game. They think they’ll lose the first game quite heavily or manage a bore draw against Crystal Palace.

Outlook: A boring year ahead with the possibility of relegation.

West Ham

The Hammers have a European game on Thursday so they have their eyes on that as well as playing Chelsea on the Monday. The team will have a lot of new players and Andy Carroll will be up front they think. They don’t want to see Michail Antonio defending against Eden Hazard but he will probably play. They have a big squad now and Havard Nordtveit is pushing for a spot. On the grand schemes of things they think they overachieved last season and would consider finishing amongst the Europa League places as a good campaign. They like their new stadium but fear it could be soulless as the team and fans adapt.

Outlook: Mid table with a good cup run

Best Player: Dimitri Payet

Conclusion

Hull City seem to have absolutely no chance of staying up, according to most teams’ fans.  There is a mini-league for the drop and the fans at all these clubs are hoping that the other teams are worse than their own. Sunderland, West Brom, Burnley, Middlesborough, Swansea, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Watford are among the teams in the running for the drop.

This is an anxious preseason for many Premier League fans, with a lot of new managers and exciting players at new clubs, such as  Sadio Mane, Mo Barrow, Troy Deeney, Alvaro Negredo and Andre Gray.  From a Fantasy Football perspective players like Nathan Redmond, Dusan Tadic, Dele Alli, Roberto Firmino, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Andros Townsend could do well. Other than that heavy hitters should rule Fantasy for this season.