Football’s back on again. It stopped. In May. I hated that. Now its on again, and that marks the end of the 10 WEEKS OF HELL!!! which is now over for another year. So on the first weekend, the ‘big teams’ get staggered over the whole weekend. To maximise tv potential. And the ‘top 4’, which is all anyone’s really ever concerned about, had its first representation on Friday night when Liverpool beat newcomers Norwich City 4-1 to ‘welcome’ them to the Premier league. You can run away with all the Championships you like, this is what the top flight feels like. Put that in your Kenwood, Delia.

Next up was Manchester City. The ‘team to beat’ (except you can’t). The current, twice-running, champions of the world. (Well if this was America the Premiership winners would be known as ‘World Champions’, so why not? Oh, because this is Europe and we realise the existence of other nations. On some peripheral level). City went to West Ham. To the Stolen Stadium. As they nicked it from the government, the council, from all of LONDON in the dodgiest deal of all time. And it wasn’t so much a massive win for City (even though Pep thought them ‘underperforming’) at 0-5, but more a statement from the Hammers that they’re wasting no time this season with any aspirations of greatness (finishing 11th) but are heading straight to the relegation zone directly.

They played some other matches at the sacred and holy ‘3 o’clock Saturday’ slot’ but that holiness has gone because neither Sky nor BT nor even the Church of England are allowed to show those matches live, so they tend to be the games of ‘less interest’.

Then at 5.30 was ‘the big one’. Spurs. The nation’s favourite team. God’s favourite team. My favourite team. And Joey’s favourite team. Lila was busy. And we played another just-promoted club, Aston Villa. A team I really don’t like for the sole reason that they play in claret-and-blue and it bothers me. It wasn’t an easy win by any stretch. In fact, for most of the first half, we looked doomed. But you never say ‘never’ when Harry Kane (probably had 3 touches in the entire first half, none of them memorable) is playing. Because, if I’m honest, he is just the best striker in the world. Thought the win wasn’t down solely to Harry. The game changed for my boys when Eriksen came on. The player who wants away to Spain gave three good reasons why we simply can’t afford to let him go as we won 3-1. Ok, if Alli and Son were playing maybe we wouldn’t have missed him so much. But they weren’t. And we did. He makes the team tick in a way others just don’t. We should swap him for Modric. No-one else is good enough to replace him.

Today Chelsea (top 4) are playing so that’s of vague interest, especially as they’re playing Manchester United who, in the transfer window, have managed to swap 3 awesome attacking players for one lumbering and over-priced defender. That’s good business.

The other games don’t involve top 4 teams and therefore are of no interest whatsoever. Though I hope Newcastle win.

Happy First Sunday of the rest of our Lives.

A xxxx