It does not feel like it has been away for long, but the Premier League is back.
Just shy of the competition's 30th anniversary, the action gets underway a week earlier than usual as club football attempts to adjust to the upcoming mid-season World Cup in Qatar.
Narratives galore have emerged over the pre-season, but in terms of opening-weekend curiosity, it is fair to suggest Old Trafford will attract more than its fair share of intrigued glances.
Another new era begins at Manchester United on Sunday as Erik ten Hag takes charge of his first competitive match at the club.
There's a long list of managers who have failed to bring sustained success to United since Alex Ferguson's retirement nine years ago – Ten Hag will hope he can buck the trend, and he begins with the visit of Brighton and Hove Albion.
New beginnings
Ten Hag's April appointment came amid gloomy days at Old Trafford. Ralf Rangnick's spell as interim manager was proving tumultuous, with the German as familiar to criticising the club's structure as he was presiding over underwhelming performances.
United had been dumped out of the Champions League by an unimpressive Atletico Madrid side, and that began something of a downward spiral, with hopes of a top-four finish quickly diminishing.
Now, Ten Hag will be the eighth manager – including caretaker/interim bosses – to take charge of United since Ferguson left.
At least the short-term omens are good: of the previous seven managers, only Ten Hag's compatriot Louis van Gaal failed to win his opening match, losing 2-1 to Swansea City.
It will take a lot more than one win over Brighton to bring the good times back to Old Trafford, however.
Ronaldo: A point to prove and a milestone within reach…
Of course, one of the major sideshows for United in pre-season has been Cristiano Ronaldo.
Reports claimed he wanted to leave for a Champions League club and he did not join United on their pre-season tour of Australia and Thailand. This was put down to personal reasons.
But no such move away has so far materialised, and so he was welcomed back into the fold before playing 45 minutes against Rayo Vallecano last weekend. Cue more controversy, as he and several other United players left early, which Ten Hag later called "unacceptable".
Given the circus around Ronaldo in recent times, at any other club you would expect him to be dropped for this game – yet, with Anthony Martial out injured, Ronaldo looks likely to start, and few would put it past him making the occasion about himself again.
After all, he's only three away from his 500th career league goal. He couldn't, could he?
A score to settle
Brighton and United played each other quite recently. Well, recently in competitive action terms, anyway.
The Red Devils' penultimate game of last season was at the Amex Stadium, and Seagulls fans will remember it fondly as they ran out crushing 4-0 winners.
That was Brighton's biggest top-flight win ever in their 356th match at that level, while it inflicted a fifth successive away defeat for United, their worst such run since 1981.
Winning at Old Trafford is another matter entirely, though – Brighton have never won there. If United do lose, they will have suffered three consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time in seven years.
Good habits
While that May encounter was a game to forget for United and Bruno Fernandes, the playmaker does have a good track record against Sunday's opponents.
In five league meetings with Brighton, Fernandes has been involved in six goals (four goals, two assists), which make the Seagulls his second-favourite opposition, behind Leeds United (eight goal involvements).
Similarly, Brighton's Pascal Gross has done well against United in the past.
His four goals versus United is more than he has managed against any other team, and Gross has netted in all three of Brighton's Premier League victories over the Red Devils, getting the winning goal on two occasions.
Gary Neville dismisses ‘nonsense’ idea of sacking Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has said the idea of the club sacking boss Erik ten Hag is “absolute nonsense”.
United suffered their 11th defeat of the season in all competitions, and seventh in the Premier League, on Saturday as they crashed to a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth.
Neville says there is “no way” Ten Hag should be sacked this term and pointed the finger at United’s owners the Glazer family.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said of Ten Hag: “I fear for him generally, not really just because of this week (when United play Bayern Munich and Liverpool). Just more generally around the way in which a cycle is repeating itself again.
“I hope that somehow Erik ten Hag can turn it around this season and that ultimately he can improve what’s happening at the moment – or else he will be in trouble, it’s just inevitable. We’ve seen it with (previous United managers) Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer), Jose (Mourinho) and Louis van Gaal.
“There’s no way they should change him this season, this idea of sacking him is absolute nonsense. I wouldn’t be in favour of that.
“The lack of leadership and structure above him…I know people say you can’t blame the Glazers – yeah you can. You can because 10 years of failure, of miserable recruitment comes down to the fact they have not got a sporting director, a proper head of recruitment in place.
“That is why this happens. Ultimately managers look above them and think ‘I haven’t got anyone there to help me so I might as well just try and do it myself’.
“This is all down to the leadership. If it happened once, fair enough, if it happened twice you would ask a question, but this is five times, five times in 10 years.”
It is expected that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of 25 per cent stake at the Old Trafford club will be announced soon, with him acquiring significant control over footballing operations.
Neville added: “He has got to come in and sort this out, and you wonder how he is going to be able to pull it out of it, that’s the concern I have.
“What we need is a change of structure at the top, that will hopefully happen in the next few weeks, hopefully that will change the way in which the sporting project is looked at because you can’t come in and leave everything as is.
“And maybe, with some leadership and structure around the club, Manchester United could have some sort of ability to cope with the other clubs who recruit a lot better and do business a lot better.”
Bruno Fernandes apologises for ‘unacceptable’ Manchester United display
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has apologised for an unacceptable performance against Bournemouth lacking the requisite quality, effort and aggression.
Erik ten Hag won the Carabao Cup during a promising first season in charge but the Dutchman’s second campaign has been a roller coaster with more lows than highs.
United’s season reached a nadir on Saturday afternoon as Bournemouth won at Old Trafford for the first time in their history, with the hosts fortunate to escape with only a 3-0 defeat.
It was a remarkable drop-off from Wednesday’s 2-1 win against Chelsea and led exasperated Ten Hag to admit they are not good enough to play on a high level consistently.
“(I want) to apologise for the performance,” skipper Fernandes said. “It was not acceptable, starting on me. I’m not talking about anyone else.
“But I think everyone agrees in the dressing room that the performance was (not) at our level and we have to perform much better.
“It was underperforming on quality-wise, on effort-wise and not aggressive as we did in the last game against Chelsea.
“If you don’t do your job, you’re not going to win the game.”
Similar words and explanations have been heard during a challenging season that has seen United lose 11 of their 23 matches in all competitions.
They have won 11 and drawn the other, but the eye-watering number of defeats means pressure is mounting on Ten Hag and his team.
“I don’t know (why it was so different to Chelsea) but it’s been consistently like (this),” Fernandes told MUTV. “When we win a game, the next one we don’t perform in the same way we did before.
“I don’t know if it’s like a lack of concentration or focus or something else, but it’s something that we have to be aware that after winning a game we have to get that consistency of winning games.
“Even sometimes (if we are) underperforming but getting the result.”
United now need to press reset and find the right attitude to avoid being sent into a tailspin at the end of a crucial week.
First up comes Tuesday’s key Champions League clash against Bayern Munich, with the Red Devils only progressing if they win and the other Group A game between Copenhagen and Galatasaray ends in a draw.
Then comes a Premier League trip to rivals Liverpool next Sunday – a match Fernandes will miss after collecting his fifth booking of the season against Bournemouth.
“Obviously it’s good (that we play soon),” Fernandes said. “Obviously we know that now the next game is going to be really tough.
“We have to win and obviously wait for a good result on the other game for us.
“But we have to do our job first of all, and thinking and understanding that is going to be a tough game for us.
“But we are capable, more than able, to get the result.”
While United’s problems are pored over in minute detail, things are looking far rosier on the south coast.
Summer appointment Andoni Iraola has overseen a superb upturn in recent weeks at Bournemouth.
Dominic Solanke, Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi scored the goals in a match that goes down as one of the Cherries’ greatest ever results.
Asked where the win rated in the club’s recent history, long-serving right-back Adam Smith told BBC Radio Solent: “I’d say it’s number one.
“I mean, it’s the Theatre of Dreams and we had never won here. It was tough at times and we suffered. But we were playing Manchester United.
“I think the lads will remember it for a long time. We kept a clean sheet and it probably should have maybe have been 4-0. It was unbelievable for the fans.”
Mat Sadler says Walsall showed what a ‘fantastic’ team they are at Notts County
Walsall boss Mat Sadler was thrilled with his team’s display after his side came from a goal down to win 2-1 at promotion hopefuls Notts County.
Oisin McEntee’s emphatic second-half brace cancelled out Aden Baldwin’s first goal of the campaign and ended the Saddlers’ six-game winless run.
Sadler said: “We are a good team, a very good team playing against what I also think is a very good team too with the way Luke (Williams) plays and the way he sets the team up. They take apart teams here, but we showed what a fantastic team we are and by team, I mean everybody together.
“The first half we go in 1-0 down but I said to the lads that I thought we controlled the game out of possession – the only thing missing in the first half was just that final piece of quality at times, but I knew we could hurt them as the game went on and the lads believed we could hurt them as the game went on.
“I gave the players a few minutes to speak to themselves, I always do. You get a vibe from what they are saying but, in the end, we got what we deserved.”
“The most important players in our game were going to be our two eights and outside centre-halves…and then Oisin (McEntee) pops up with the two goals which were thoroughly deserved. We know he has got goals in his game.”
As for the Magpies, another cold afternoon turned into an evening to forget as they fell to their third home league defeat of the season, and their fourth of the calendar year.
Williams said: “The conditions were not a problem, it was more the lack of energy. And we did not have the bravery to play with the ball in the second half.
“If we are not going to be great defensively, and we are then not going to outscore the opposition, I am not sure what we are going to do.
“The first half was really cagey, but we made a breakthrough. The second half, I did not even recognise the team.
“I want to win. It is no good to just be here when the team are winning every week. I need to be here and try to help them, try to remain focused on the job, so that we can try to come through on the other side of it.
“We are new to the division. We are learning the opposition and we have stuttered. We cannot seem to find a consistency so we need to find a decent level and be able to maintain that.”
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