Celtic slay giants: Five things learned from Premier League pre-season so far

It’s not long before the 33rd Premier League season gets underway.
Everything starts on August 16 when record holders Manchester United entertain Fulham at Old Trafford.
Before that, there’s the small matter of United and defending champions Manchester City meeting at Wembley for the Community Shield.
As expected, all twenty teams are in preparation mode, with several embarking on long-distance trips for lucrative friendly matches.
So, here are five things we learned so far this summer.
1. Bragging rights north of the border
It’s only pre-season, and neither Chelsea nor Manchester City are up to full speed, but take nothing away from Celtic and their manager, Brendan Rodgers, who completed a strong build-up before getting their Scottish championship defence underway next weekend.
The Bhoys’ stateside tour began with a comfortable 4-0 win over MLS outfit D.C. United before staring at back-to-back games against winners of seven of their last eight Premier League titles.
Despite several key individuals still away following their participation in this summer’s biggest international tournaments, Celtic and City played out an entertaining 4-3 affair in North Carolina, in which the Glaswegian giants came out on top.
A showdown with Chelsea in Notre Dame Stadium wasn’t even a close affair, with Matt O’Riley, who has recently been linked with Bologna, starring. The 23-year-old midfielder broke the deadlock before setting up Kyogo Furuhashi to double Celtic’s lead as they would run out 4-1 winners. Again, these were friendlies, but morale-boosting nonetheless.
A fantastic 4️⃣ to finish our US tour!#TheBhoysOfSummer | #StatesideCelts🇺🇸🍀 pic.twitter.com/5efBOrlhWz
— Celtic Football Club (Stateside🇺🇸) (@CelticFC) July 27, 2024
From a Chelsea perspective, though, it was an inevitable result. “For me, it is important to realise the difference between us and them in the physical conditioning. You can see they had already played four games in pre-season and they are starting their official season very soon. Whereas for us, we struggled a little bit physically,” head coach Enzo Maresca said.
“The biggest difference with us and them was the physical condition,’ he later reiterated. ‘It is very clear they are ready to start [their league season] and we have just had our second [pre-season] game and some of our players have only played 45 minutes so the difference was huge.”
Maresca acknowledged that Chelsea’s defeat was not solely due to conditioning, but also pointed out several issues on and off the ball.
He said: “For sure we need to improve many things off the ball. As you said, one of the things we did badly today was when the ball was not under pressure, we maintained a high line but when the ball is not under pressure, you need to drop.
“We are still confusing some things on the ball and off the ball. It is normal in this moment when we are trying to do something new but game-by-game and training session after training session, we are going to be ready [for the start of the Premier League season].”
2. Nyoni catches the eye
The first few months are critical for any new manager, especially one succeeding a giant like Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool. Firstly, implementing the vision as quickly and smoothly as possible, and secondly, wins are the currency to keep the baying critical media (and fanbase) at bay. Arne Slot is under no illusion that following in Klopp’s footsteps is a daunting prospect, but it’s a challenge he’s relishing.
His unofficial debut as Liverpool boss saw the Reds claim a 1-0 victory over La Liga side Real Betis in Philadelphia, with Dominik Szoboszlai’s effort separating the sides. However, both Slot and Klopp agreed that the standout performer was 17-year-old Trey Nyoni, who came on for the injured Curtis Jones half an hour into the contest.
The action as we picked up a win in Pittsburgh 🎬 pic.twitter.com/6q3rQ2B19q
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 27, 2024
Nyoni, who to date has made only one single appearance for the 19-time English champions —a 12-minute cameo against Southampton in this year’s FA Cup fifth round —seized this unexpected opportunity ahead of a new start for every Anfield-based player, so much so that he forced the Dutchman to break one of his preseason promises.
“I said yesterday that I’m not going to name any youngster that caught my eye, but if you see that he comes in after 30 minutes, you could expect that I meant him,” he said post-match.
“He just turned 17, so his body is not grown yet, and he needs some time to get stronger. He found a lot of players between the lines, and the biggest chance we had was a great pass from him.”
Szoboszlai agreed with his boss. “I like [Nyoni] a lot,” he added. “He is a very offensive player. I just said on the bench to [Jarell] Quansah, you can’t even foul him because of his movements and things like this.”
3. Better now than later
🧠#ManCity pic.twitter.com/WW9bDJhll4
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 27, 2024
One significance of pre-season is that nothing is fatal. Preparations are just that: they’re a chance for managers to experiment, assimilate new faces, and try different tactics and systems. Defeats do not carry great weight; no one likes to lose, but it’s better to do so now. In the case of Manchester City, if they’re going to be a defensive mess, it’s better in July than any time between August and May.
Once, as a pundit, Johan Cruyff derided a team’s defence as “goat’s cheese.” He meant to call it Swiss cheese—full of holes, in other words. In Dutch, geitenkaas and gatenkaas are separated by one vowel. His disciple Pep Guardiola would feel the same after seeing his team concede seven goals across two outings.
Across those 180 minutes, Ederson, Stefan Ortega, and the oft-forgotten Scott Carson have kept goal, though it’s worth noting that those in front of them aren’t exactly the most experienced. Rico Lewis, the most prominent player, has played at both right and left back with variations of Jahmai Simpson-Pusey (18), Luke Mbete (20), Josh Wilson-Esbrand (21), Callum Doyle (20), and Mahamadou Susoho comprising City’s backline.
Even in suffering constructive losses against Celtic and Milan, there are some positives for Guardiola, with Oscar Bobb looking to play a key role in the forthcoming 2024/25 season and James McAtee seizing his chance in City’s midfield with several big-hitters still on holiday.
“It was a step forward, no injuries, minutes in our legs, another test and now we fly to another game in a few days,” Guardiola stated.
However, with rumours continuing to swirl regarding Ederson’s future, it may be paramount to solve that conundrum before meeting neighbours Manchester United for the season curtain-raiser in a few weeks.
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4. Moore to come?
Ange Postecoglou would look back on his debut campaign as Tottenham manager with some mixed feelings. Having immediately lost serial marksman Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, the Lilywhites began their 2023/24 campaign on a promising note before injuries and perhaps teams figuring them out saw them finish in fifth place, thus guaranteeing them Europa League football. Being away from European competition didn’t put too much strain on Tottenham’s squad (injuries notwithstanding), and with multiple fronts to fight on in 2024/25, expect Postecoglou to construct a team with ample depth.
Pre-season, in the Australian tactician’s eyes, has done a good job in preparing for the upcoming season, and one name — already on the lips of Spurs fans — that could end up playing a role is 16-year-old forward Mikey Moore, who has seized his opportunities and then some.
Moore netted the winner in Tottenham’s 3-2 win over Vissel Kobe, taking his pre-season tally to two goals and one assist in three unofficial games. He would even score in behind-closed-doors games against Cambridge United and Japan’s U20 national team. The fearlessness shown when coming on against the J-League outfit, showcasing his ability to dribble in tight areas coupled with electric pace, impressed his boss, to say the least.
Two homegrown talents combine to put us ahead 🤍
2-3 // #SpursInJapan pic.twitter.com/zHPl878UcJ
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 27, 2024
“Mikey has been fantastic since we brought him in. He’s earned his spot on the roster at the moment — he did at the end of last year,” he said after the game.
“He’s been good in all the games – he probably should have had three tonight, to be fair – but he did take his goal well by being in the right areas. All we can do is keep allowing him to develop.”
Lamine Yamal has already shown that age is just a number. It’s worth keeping an eye on Moore’s development in North London.
5. Fitness issues rearing its ugly head for Ten Hag
Despite winning the FA Cup, last season was one to forget for embattled Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, who can only count on that aforementioned triumph to save his job. United finished a lowly eighth, their poorest Premier League placement since the competition’s inception, which could only be explained by the Dutchman citing an unreasonable amount of injuries derailing his team. In a sense, United rarely fielded Ten Hag’s strongest possible starting lineup, and just when those issues seemed a distant memory, they returned in a 2-1 friendly loss against storied rivals Arsenal on Los Angeles soil.
Rasmus Højlund gave the Red Devils a 10th-minute lead but came off six minutes later with a suspected hamstring injury. New signing Lenny Yoro, whom many felt was Real Madrid-bound, made his second consecutive start for the record 20-time English champions since joining from Lille but could only last 35 minutes into the contest. He managed to walk off under his own power, but his leg had a noticeable limp.
Man United's newest signing Leny Yoro comes off with an injury against Arsenal. pic.twitter.com/djWD79rMik
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 28, 2024
“Of course it is too short [to know about their injuries] and we have to wait over 24 hours, then we will hopefully know more,” Ten Hag said afterwards. “We were careful especially with Leny [Yoro] as he only did 50 per cent of the [training] sessions. He has to come up but let’s be positive and see what comes out.”
Even though it was decided in 90 minutes—the Gabriels: Jesus and Martinelli—turning it around for Mikel Arteta’s side, a penalty shootout was nonetheless contested, which United ended up winning 4–3 with Jadon Sancho netting the decisive spot kick after André Onana made two saves.