The start of the English Premier League (EPL) is just one day away. The action kicks off on May 12 with the opening match between Manchester City and Burnley.
As usual, the favorite to win this season is the reigning champions, City. Last season, they won the EPL, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League (UCL), completing the “triple”. Most of the core remains. There’s a good chance that this season will be another Man City reign.
Even before the EPL kicked off, most pundits in the UK were predicting City to win the EPL. Arsenal, Manchester United, and others have been labeled as contenders, but there’s no denying that they pale in comparison to City.
For as much attention and love as they get, there are plenty of haters. This is the case with Man City, and criticism of their star striker, Elling Holland, in particular, has been ongoing since the start of the season.
That’s because he’s been struggling. Holland set an all-time EPL record with 36 goals last season. He was also the top scorer in the UCL. He was one of the best scoring machines in the world. He hasn’t shown that yet this season.
He was a bit heavy in preseason, and he didn’t do much, especially in the Community Shield against Arsenal. He didn’t even score a goal. In the end, Arsenal lost the trophy, and criticism of Holland’s lackluster performance intensified.
Pep Guardiola came to his defense. Ahead of the opening game against Burnley, Guardiola said, “It’s Holland’s second season. He’s doing his best to improve. You can’t talk about a whole season based on one Community Shield game.”
“Even a striker can stop scoring goals. Some people want Holland to score more than 50 goals like he 토토 did last season, but he still needs more time to get there. He’s trying to be the best he can be physically and mentally. He needs to wait.”
Finally, Guardiola concluded, “If he continues to train and work hard, the goals will come naturally. So don’t force goals on him. Don’t put too much pressure on him to score,” he emphasized.