Did Harry Kane miss his big chance for glory? Will Aleksandar Mitrovic score more than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? And are you more taken with Bournemouth or Brighton in the battle of the seaside resorts?
The concept is simple – every week we’ll pick some talking points, our fan community will argue their case and then you get to vote for who you think won the discussion.
The fixtures up for debate this week are:
- Manchester City v Tottenham
- Arsenal v Everton
- Fulham v Chelsea
- Leeds v Nottingham Forest
- Bournemouth v Brighton
Did Kane miss out on the chance of a lifetime by not moving to Man City last summer?
Man City: Ger Deegan,Maine Road Ramble
In the wake of Erling Haaland signing for Manchester City, this cannot be looked at as anything other than a huge chance missed for Kane. Had he signed last season, he would now have his first Premier League winners’ medal and would have been a perfect fit in this City set-up. Such is the way things go, this gave City the chance to land a much younger, cheaper and equally as dangerous goal machine one year on.
To be fair to Kane, it wasn’t for the want of trying. He seemed destined to leave Tottenham – and if it wasn’t for the stubbornness of Daniel Levy, it would have happened. In hindsight, this missed opportunity will have a more long-term effect on Kane than on Manchester City.
It obviously had a massive part in us signing a different prolific striker. Haaland has already scored 12 goals in seven games, and the scary thing is he has only just turned 22. He looks incredible and I don’t think there is a City fan on the planet who would now rather we had Kane in his place. City could potentially have him for another decade, while Kane will be finished in terms of his top level by then.
Kane has been welcomed back by Spurs fans and will probably go on to become the Premier League’s greatest goalscorer. It feels right that he is still a Tottenham player and he probably has his best chance of silverware in a long time under the tutelage of Antonio Conte.
Tottenham: Anna Howells, Spurs XY
This depends on how you define “the chance”. The chance of what?
Playing Champions League football? This has been achieved under Conte.
Earning trophies? Sure, almost certainly these would be won at City, but there is no reason why, under Conte, he can’t win trophies with Spurs.
Breaking club and Premier League records? Harry has already scored more Premier League goals than Sergio Aguero. Almost every goal seems to break a record of some sort. He is already Spurs’ record European goalscorer, and is chasing down Jimmy Greaves’ all-time record.
That just leaves Alan Shearer’s Premier League record, as Wayne Rooney’s second place will also be eclipsed by the end of next season.
Legendary status? Harry has his England captaincy and his own exhibition at the Museum of London – and is already revered at Tottenham.
Harry knows where he is valued. City, after all, preferred to spend £100m on Jack Grealish. He also knows there is no way he would have scored enough goals at City to get an Aguero-like statue, even if he wanted one.
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Who will score more goals from now until the end of the season – Mitrovic or Aubameyang?
Fulham: Dan Crawford, Hammy End
It has to be Aleksandar Mitrovic. Plenty of pundits – including the BBC’s own Chris Sutton and Robbie Savage – suggested the Serbia striker wasn’t suited for this level. But he has started the season with six goals in as many appearances (to make it 46 goals in his past 46 club matches) and is in the form of his life.
The Fulham number nine humiliated Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk on the opening weekend – triggering Liverpool’s leisurely start to the campaign – broke Brentford hearts with a trademark header, embarrassed Arsenal and produced a world-class finish at Tottenham. He’s much more than a big lump up top, too.
Much of the credit should go to Marco Silva and Fulham’s full-backs and wingers for supplying him so superbly – and top-flight centre-backs must be having sleepless nights fretting about Mitrovic at this point. Only injury or suspension could stop his scoring streak and the Whites are managing him much more effectively than ever before.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was a regular poacher for Borussia Dortmund but his career strike-rate cannot compare with Mitrovic’s, and he will need to adapt to a new system in the blue section of SW6.
Chelsea: Ross Mooring, Chelsea Fancast
Succeeding as a striker at Chelsea has been quite hard for players handed the number nine jersey since the Roman Abramovich era began almost 20 years ago.
Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata and, most recently, Romelu Lukaku are just three who have failed to live up to huge transfer fees.
So it would be ‘typical Chelsea’ for 33-year-old Aubameyang, signed by the now-sacked manager who insisted on bringing him to Stamford Bridge, to be the first to properly bang in the goals since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
His former Premier League club is a portent to his potential success at Stamford Bridge. Other ex-Arsenal players, like Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Nicolas Anelka and Olivier Giroud, all helped bring hatfuls of trophies to the club.
Of course, Mitrovic is an accomplished striker and is nestled in nicely as first choice at Fulham, but the one thing he does not possess that Aubameyang does is pace – and that’s a quality that could finally unlock opposing defences for the Blues.
A sharp finisher in the mould of Didier Drogba could be just what Chelsea need, and if he can establish himself under the next boss, goals may well flow.
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Don Revie or Brian Clough?
Leeds: Jess Furness, Her Game Too
Easy! Don Revie. There’s no comparison. Next question.
If you disagree, then look at it this way, Don Revie was an astounding success during his 13 years managing Leeds. We played beautiful football back then and the squad was as hard as nails.
To name just a few of the legends that he took charge of: Norman Hunter, Billy Bremner, Peter Lorimer, Jack Charlton and Eddie Gray. They oozed quality! What he did with that squad was nothing short of phenomenal.
Under Revie’s guidance, Leeds claimed eight trophies in a glorious period, and he transformed us completely. Leeds never finished out of the top four in the top flight between 1965 and 1974.
What did Brian Clough achieve at Leeds? Nothing. His time at Leeds lasted 44 days – and he won just one game out of six. That says everything you need to know. Even new prime minister Liz Truss said “channelling the spirit of Revie” is the way forward!
His statue will face Elland Road proudly for eternity, but I highly doubt that one of Clough will be making an appearance in LS11 any time soon.
Nottingham Forest: Ben Dore, Dore on Tour
Brian Clough is arguably one of the most successful managers in domestic football, having won 10 trophies during his career. While he and Revie both secured two league championships each, it is Cloughie’s back-to-back European Cup successes with Forest that make him significantly better at club level.
You have to acknowledge that Revie was England manager for 29 games over a three-year period, something Clough cannot equal, but he is arguably the best England manager there never was.
Clough will forever be a pantomime villain at Leeds, but will always be a legend in the East Midlands, particularly on Trentside.
He was, quite simply, the greatest.
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Which side has overachieved more in the last 10 years?
Bournemouth: Tom Jordan, Back of the Net
While both Bournemouth and Brighton have had a phenomenal rise up the leagues in the past decade, they remain two of the ‘smaller’ clubs in England’s top tier in terms of history and finances. However, the Cherries are clearly the ‘smallest’.
Bournemouth have spent most of their existence in the lower leagues, and were on the verge of extinction in 2009 – a game away from being out of the Football League. Since then, it has been nothing short of a miracle.
As much as Brighton’s achievements are remarkable, they have an FA Cup runners-up medal and a relatively new stadium with a capacity of more than 30,000. Bournemouth’s ground holds a little over 11,000. The fact the Cherries are now competing in their sixth Premier League season, when they had never reached it before 2015, is simply astounding.
To limit it strictly to the past 10 years, in the 2012-13 season Brighton finished in the Championship play-offs, just a couple of games away from the Premier League. Bournemouth gained promotion from League One to the Championship.
They are two clubs punching above their weight consistently. Two clubs defying the odds. But, ultimately, because of size, Bournemouth’s achievements have been superior.
Brighton: Stuart Matthews, Proud Seagulls
I think we need to go back to the start of the century to fully understand the answer to the question.
Both clubs have come from a very precarious background. One was facing liquidation and suffering from points deductions and dropping out of the Football League, while the other was losing everything, with their ground being sold off (by horrible directors). They had nowhere to go and, like Bournemouth, Brighton were looking at being gone from the English Football League.
Those were sad, sad times. We move forward to 2010 and beyond, things are looking rosy for both clubs.
Bournemouth are back in the Premier League, after a little spell in the Championship. Brighton have a new stadium and, since promotion in 2017, have maintained their Premier League position and do not look like being relegated.
Without doubt, both clubs have overachieved. Brighton may just have the upper hand – but it’s very marginal.
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Which supporters saw the best of Arteta as a player?
Arsenal: Charlene Smith, AFTV
Mikel Arteta undeniably played a key role for Everton and this was the prime of his playing career.
Under David Moyes at Goodison, Arteta won individual player awards on a regular basis, was man of the match on numerous occasions and captained the team.
However, let’s not underestimate his achievements for Arsenal, including captaining the side, playing in the Champions League, his individual achievements – and, of course, the FA Cups he won under Arsene Wenger.
Everton: Briony Bragg, This Fan Girl
“And there’s nobody better than Mikel Arteta – he’s the best little Spaniard we know!”
Arteta came to Everton on the last day of the transfer window in 2005, back when the team was fighting for the Champions League. He made an immediate impact, winning the player of the season award in two consecutive years and was revered for the culture he inspired off the pitch with his immense professionalism.
He scored some outstanding goals in blue. There are many who still revere his goal against Fiorentina as one of the loudest moments in Goodison Park history. His injury-time goal against Manchester United in 2010 to snatch a point after a stunning comeback is still regarded as an Everton Premier League classic.
Arteta made 174 Premier League appearances for the Toffees, scoring in 28 of them. That’s 14 more goals than in an Arsenal shirt.
There are many who say he was criminally underrated at Goodison Park. However, in a team with Steven Pienaar, Tim Cahill, Leon Osman and Marouane Fellaini, his prowess in midfield was arguably overshadowed by the collective efforts and success of all those in blue at the time.
Yes, he won his silverware and took the captain’s armband at Arsenal. But his best days of showing what he could do as an incredibly gifted player? They were at Everton.
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