With yet another season of domestic European football set to start less than two weeks from now, we have witnessed yet another exciting summer transfer window across Europe. Leonardo Bonucci shocked the world by joining the Rossoneri, James Rodriguez joined Bayern on a two-year loan (what?), and Kylian Mbappé seems to be set on staying with Monaco for at least one more season despite receiving heavy interest from every top club in the world.

And as per usual, the Premier League has seen the most productive activity in the transfer window, largely amongst the teams who finished in the top six last season (Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United). All but one side has made numerous additions to their respective sides in hopes of strengthening their squad to cope with the ever-compiling competitive nature of the best league in the world.

But who among last season’s top six has maneuvered the 2017 summer transfer window the best?

Chelsea

Coming off of a dominant debut season in the Premier League, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is not playing around in preparing a defense worthy of yet another league title. Conte has parted ways with 27 players this summer, with 15 of them going out on loan for the season and 12 of them leaving on a permanent transfer. Notable departures include two promising young players in powerful striker Dominic Solanke (who we will come back to later) and composed center back Nathan Ake, as well as the experienced Nemanja Matić (who we will also come back to later).

While Conte has been busy cleaning up shop, he has also made sure to revamp the backbone of his Chelsea side with a new center back, defensive midfielder and striker. At CB, 24-year-old Antonio Rüdiger spent the last two seasons at Roma and won the Confederations Cup this summer with Germany, meaning his defensive IQ and high level of experience are exactly what Conte needs in the back line. At DM, 22-year-old Frenchman Tiemoué Bakayoko helped Monaco win Ligue 1 and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League last year.

Finally, at ST, Álvaro Morata has joined the Blues from Real Madrid in hopes of seeing the starting XI on a more consistent basis. At 24 years of age, Morata has already played in three Champions League finals, and won two of them, although he appeared as a substitute in both victories. He is a technically gifted striker with an eye for goal, but only time will tell whether he has the physical tenacity to handle the pace and power of the Premier League.

Overall Grade: B+

 

Tottenham

Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side has arguably been the best side in the Premier League for the past two seasons, despite finishing in third place and second place, respectively. With the youngest average aged team in the league, Pochettino has fostered an exciting style of play that has seen English striker Harry Kane win the league’s Golden Boot for the past two seasons running, and the emergence of Dele Alli as one of the best young footballers in the world.

This summer, Tottenham has let go of ten players. Shockingly, on the other side of business, Pochettino has not purchased a single player during the summer 2017 transfer window. While Tottenham hosts the most well-rounded starting XI in the league, they can certainly improve their squad’s depth. Kane & Alli may be carrying the team in terms of goal-scoring, along with the help of Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-Min; but Vincent Janssen, Tottenham’s only true out and out backup striker, has not carried his weight since making the move to London last summer. Kane will need rest from time to time, and based on what he has shown so far, Janssen is light years away from filling those shoes.

Overall Grade: B

 

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola had a disappointing first season with his new club by his own standards, seeing his side finish in 3rd place after beginning the season in blistering form. Throughout the year, his City side showed flashes of the beautiful football that Pep is known for producing, but inconsistency kept them from reaching the heights they were expected to reach.

This summer was always going to be an extremely active one for Manchester City, considering the reputation of both Guardiola and City’s owners for blowing the bank. In preparation, City parted ways with 20 players, only five of which left on loan, including Joe Hart to West Ham. Remarkably, on the other hand, City have spent almost $200 million this summer exclusively on their defense, including three full backs in Kyle Walker from Tottenham, Benjamin Mendy from Monaco and Danilo from Real Madrid. Leading the defense will be goalkeeper Ederson, who has looked impressive this summer since his arrival from Benfica, and Guardiola is praying that he will be the solid keeper who City has been missing for a few years now. Lastly, Monaco’s now former playmaker Bernardo Silva looks as though he will take City’s offense to new frightening heights.

Guardiola has spoken on the fact that City does not have enough remaining funds to purchase a new center back, and he probably should have thought about that before buying two right backs for over $100 million. There is no questioning the potency of this City side’s offensive ability, but their defense does not quite tell the same story. Not yet, at least.

Overall Grade: B-

 

Liverpool

Having qualified for the Champions League for the first time since the 2014-2015 season, Jürgen Klopp’s first full season in the Premier League was ultimately a success. Like Manchester City, Liverpool put out some inspired performances against the bigger teams, but somehow managed to lose critical games including home fixtures against Swansea and Crystal Palace, both of whom had abysmal seasons.

Certainly, Liverpool’s defense was to be restructured this summer.

So far, Liverpool has let go of nine players, five of which were released from the club. Surprisingly, Klopp has been rather conservative with his checkbook, which is further affirmation of the faith that the German coach has always shown in his teams. Still, it goes to beg the question of how far that faith will take him this year. Despite already featuring a creative offense that was unstoppable at times last season, two of Klopp’s three purchases have been offensive ones. Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah recently made the move to Merseyside from Roma, and with his direct style of play driven by his pace, he will likely flourish under Klopp. The second signing, Dominic Solanke, a 19 year old who was let go by Chelsea, will only end up costing Klopp around $3.5 million. He may already have Chelsea regretting their decision to let him go, showcasing his strength and his eye for goal in his first two appearances for Liverpool.

Their third signing, oddly, is former Hull City left back Andrew Robertson, whom they do not truly need at the moment. In modern football, a side must have a world class goalkeeper in order to be considered amongst the best teams in the world, and this is the one position in which Liverpool is seriously suffering. Neither Simon Mignolet or Loris Karius were all that convincing last season, and until they find a proper fit between the posts, Liverpool will likely struggle when the season gets gritty.

Another center back might help as well…

Overall Grade: C

 

Arsenal

Last season told the typical tale of an Arsenal season: start shakily, clean things up during the fall, fall off in wintertime, and wake up in the closing stretch of the season. The only difference is that in past years, it ended up being enough to get us in the Champions League, whereas this year, we fell just short of fourth place. Yes, for the first time in Arsene Wenger’s 20 years as Arsenal manager, the Gunners have failed to qualify for the prestigious Champions League. These are strange times for us Arsenal fans, as many of us have never felt this feeling before.

Arsene did a little bit of cleaning up this summer as well, releasing five players, loaning out two and selling two more. There have been just two additions this summer, including left midfielder Sead Kolašinac from Schalke on a free transfer, and the long overdue, club record transfer of striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon. Following Wenger’s surprise change to a 3-4-3 formation in the final stretch of last season, Kolašinac will fit smoothly into this newly arranged Arsenal side with his ability to perform both as a powerful defender and as a deceivingly quick and technical outside midfielder. Lacazette, on the other hand, felt like a Godsend for us Gunners after years of being linked with just about every top-shelf striker in the game, only to come out empty handed time and again. He was borderline prolific last year in Ligue 1, and he finally has his chance to shine at the top level. I want to believe that Lacazette will adapt to the Premier League well, but only time will tell.

While multiple midfielders in Arsenal’s current roster have the potential to take on leadership roles at the club, the Gunners have not had a world class defensive midfielder since Patrick Vieira over a decade ago. Santi Cazorla is world class, but he only plays in the defensive role occasionally, and his absence through consecutive long-term injuries in the last two years has hurt Arsenal deeply. Two seasons ago, Coquelin seemed to be growing into the leadership role at DM, but that faded after a while. This is the only hole in Arsenal’s lineup that is keeping them from being serious title contenders again.

On a side note, the prolonged contract extension drama with Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil has not helped out the morale of the team.

Overall Grade: B

 

Manchester United

José Mourinho and Manchester United had a strange season by multiple standards. They finished in sixth place in the Premier League, which by both the club’s standards and Mourinho’s standards, is awful. Yet in the same time, they also won the Community Shield, the Football League Cup and the Europa League (for the first time). This led Mourinho and some United fans to (jokingly?) claim that they had won a treble. This is certainly not the case, but alas, a subtly impressive season for the Red Devils.

This summer saw the departure of nine players, including the release of Zlatan Ibrahimović and the selling of Wayne Rooney back to his boyhood club, Everton. There was not much improving to do for Manchester United, other than to replace Zlatan, as well as to find a proper center back to pair with the commanding Eric Bailly, and they did just that. After being on United’s radar for quite some time, they finally acquired the services of Victor Lindelöf, the Swedish center back, from Benfica.

Of course, Manchester United also purchased Romelu Lukaku after an impressive season at Everton, where he proved once and for all his ability to handle the demands of the Premier League. Other than his occasional poor first touch, in contrast to Zlatan’s revered godly first touch, Lukaku has the full package. With a young and speedy offense to his left and right, and the backing of Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera, Lukaku will flourish at Manchester United just as he did at Everton.

Additionally, just as he did in his return to Chelsea, Mourinho has lured the sturdy Nemanja Matić back into his side to further strengthen this impressive Manchester United midfield.

Overall Grade: A

 

Summer 2017 Transfer Window Grading Amongst Last Season’s Top Six:

Chelsea: B+
Tottenham: B
Manchester City: B-
Liverpool: C
Arsenal: B
Manchester United: A

Dark Horses

West Ham: B+: Chicharito, Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta
Everton: A-: Wayne Rooney, Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Sandro Ramírez

Love hurts. It can cause both mental and physical injuries. I was in a relationship for most of my life that would give me these amazing highs, and soul crushing lows.  I began to play soccer when I was about four years old, using my sister’s old cleats that were two or three sizes too large for my little feet. To make it work, we had to stuff newspaper in the front of them so that each time I would swing for the ball, (and usually miss) my cleats would not go flying off. I still remember running and tripping on the field, never crying, just loving the movement and the freedom it gave me. I knew that this would be something I had to keep in my life for as long as possible. This is where my addiction began.

This passage is not to detail my long-standing affair with soccer. Rather, it is to illustrate how much I care for this sport, how much I thrived in it, and how much I wanted to play in the most competitive leagues, all the way up to D1 college soccer. I did everything I had to, set myself up in the right teams, attended all of the ID camps and talked to as many coaches as I could. I did have natural talent, and by my sophomore year of high school, I had coaches from D1 schools that showed interest in me, that wanted to come and watch some of my games. Of course, I was elated. Sadly, soccer is not totally about heart and talent. It has a large portion that is made up of luck. Or in my case, bad luck.

When I was a junior in high school (the time where most people commit to playing in college), I tore my first ACL. I remember my cleat becoming stuck in one of those aeration holes and twisting oddly. I heard and felt a snap, like a rubber band. I did not trust myself to get up; I remember lying on the grass, trying to keep my tears from falling. I felt totally helpless. This is how I felt for the next six months.

I had the surgery quickly after I had torn my ACL. You have several options when it comes to creating a replacement ACL. A cadaver, the patella tendon, and/or your hamstring can be used. I picked the hamstring, and once the surgery is over you can feel the hole where the ACL was taken from. That hurts almost as much as the ACL repair itself. After the surgery, the doctor came and talked to my parents. He told them that I had one of the nicest ACLs he had seen in a long time, but sadly it was just torn in half. It was bad luck that I had torn it.

My bad luck continued, as the coaches that were interested in me told me that I should contact them again when I was healed and back to playing. Of course, I knew that this meant they would give my spot to another (healthy) player. It was soul crushing, a true low. My dreams of playing D1 soccer were quickly slipping through my fingers.

I tried to turn this into motivation with my rehab, to come back better and stronger. Instead of six months, I only needed five months to come back, totally healthy. But by this time, the only coaches that were still interested in a damaged player were D2 and D3 programs. I still had a chance to play college soccer, but not to the degree that I wanted to play. Regardless, I was still addicted. I would take anything I could get.

This is why I started to look into the D3 school I would ultimately end up going to. I talked to the coach and talked to the existing players, and went to visit the school. It was beautiful, the coach and players all seemed very supportive, and I saw myself fitting well into this program. I committed and was very excited to continue my career as a college athlete, even at the D3 level.

Preseason, which came and went, was difficult but manageable. I still loved every moment of playing. We had an amazing season that year. We made it all the way to the Final Four in the NCAA tournament, and I was put on the travel roster for this trip. The experience was amazing. The hotel we stayed at was gorgeous, the fields were immaculate, and the free things we got were the cherry on top. When it came to soccer, this was the best week in my career. But as a college athlete, it is not just about the sport. Along with being an athlete, you are also a student. I am a chemistry major, and in high school I never tried very hard and still received the grades I needed to get into a very good college. College is a very different ball game, as you have to put in the work to receive the grades that you want. In order to get an A on one exam, I had to put in one to two weeks of study time. With soccer taking up 75% of my time, I was struggling to get the grades that my parents and I both expected from me.

During the tournament week, we were all supposed to be preparing for our final exams. My chemistry exam was the day after we were supposed to come home. Coach gave us a curfew and made sure that we were occupied during all of our “free time.” I struggled to stay focused on soccer when I needed to be and tried to change my thinking to chemistry when I had to. This is how your entire college career is as student athlete.

My freshman year was a challenge for me with this new balancing act that I was not used to, but I still survived. I had received a good amount of playing time my freshman year as a center midfielder, and I knew that I wanted to train harder so that I would be a starter and not just one of the first subs off the bench. I found a competitive team for the summer; they were all D1 players and I was the only D3 player on the roster. When we had our first game, I started the game as an outside defender, and played all 90 minutes. This was one of my soaring highs; I was so happy. We won the game, and I was given a good amount of praise. I knew that I could become a more influential part of my team back at my school. Sadly, my soccer career still consisted of bad luck. Two weeks after this game, I was playing an indoor soccer game and took an odd step and tore my second ACL.

I was freaking out. My friend told me that I couldn’t have torn it, that it was probably just a weird pop that I felt, so I decided that I would test my knee out and play again. I tried to plant on my right knee (the knee I thought I hadn’t injured) and it totally gave out. My ACL was torn. Again. This low was much lower than the one I had experienced my junior year of high school. I held out hope that it was just a partial tear, and not a full one.

I had the surgery in early August of my sophomore year in college, and I remember waking up and feeling the part of my hamstring missing. I knew that this meant that I had torn my ACL and it had been repaired, just like before. I began to just sob uncontrollably. I would be out for my sophomore season.

I had gone to preseason and for the entire year starting two weeks later and I had worked as hard as I could to rehab my leg. This hard work paid off, enabling me to beat my personal recovery record of five months. I came back after four and a half months, stronger than I was before, but they were four of the worst months of my life. I wanted to transfer from my school; I didn’t know if I wanted to play soccer anymore. I was depressed, and the pressure from school as well as from my coach became unbearable. I isolated myself from my good friends, and my grades began to slip.

I decided that staying at my school was the best choice for me, and that I had to dedicate myself more to academics rather than to soccer or my social life. I still wanted to be a part of the team, and the summer going into my junior year, I worked out as much as I could and tried to read ahead for my classes. I felt like I was totally ready to make my junior year the best one. I went to preseason and passed all of my fitness tests and played well. I was expecting to play a good amount that season. I was ready. The first game went by with me playing the same amount that I did my freshman year. I was a bit disappointed, but understood that I did just come off of an injury. This continued on for the majority of the season. I became so frustrated that I emailed our assistant coach because he was the one who spoke to me throughout most of my progress, and to my surprise, I got a relatively aggressive email back from the head coach. He said that I should not go to our assistant coach for evaluations, and that was the head coach’s job. I was taken aback by this and decided to ask if I could sit down with him for a conversation.

When I went to go talk to the head coach, he told me that I had a very high soccer IQ, that I was probably one of the smartest on the team. He continued this compliment with a, “but you remind me of a 35-year-old male when you play. You are just a bit slow. You will make an excellent adult league player, but you just aren’t the player for us.”

For us… that part hurt worse than the 35-year-old man comment. I was a part of us. I sacrificed a social life, a 4.0, and my body. Literally. I had to hold back my tears, refusing to let this man know that he had hurt me.

I was not the only player who had gone through these types of meetings. We as a whole received email after email calling us below average athletes; that we were unfit, and that some of us even had to keep a food journal to lose weight. Every term but the word fat was used in those kinds of meetings. This coach often told us that we were easily replaceable. That we were nothing special. I took this type of verbal abuse for three years, and decided that I was unhappy. I no longer loved going to soccer practice. I much preferred long hours in the lab or hanging out with friends.

This realization was difficult to make; I was an addict that knew the drug was not good for me, but the memories were better than the present. I was living off of the high that I had once had to get me through the major lows that I kept falling into. We then started 5:30am cross-fit and speed training three times a week. That was my last straw. I would not be emotionally abused, then have my sleep taken from me and face this man at 5:30 am, and then again at 6 pm. I was done. I sent him an email that was a big “F You” but in the most polite way. I wrote:

Hi Coach,

I have done a great deal of thinking over the past couple of weeks. I have loved soccer since I was four years old. Sadly, the past three years playing for the Soccer Program has made that love turn to resentment. Soccer is not the pure sport it once was, but has been corrupted into something that angers me, that saddens me, and that has turned me against my best friends. Something I have realized, however, is that my resentment does not come from the sport itself, but it comes from playing under a man who doesn’t see the value of a team, but the value of an individual. A man that thinks the key to winning is by pinning teammates against each other, and instead of building up an individual, he likes to remind us that we are nothing but a body, a body that can be easily replaced. So to this XXXXXXX, I would like to give up my Jersey and allow you to “replace” me. I hope this is easy as you say it is. 

Sophie Staerz

 

His response was just the confirmation I needed that I made the right choice. Instead of acknowledging that he had done anything wrong, he told me that I was pretty much irrational and that my view of him was unhealthy. Just take a peek at his response:

Sophie,

I am sorry you feel the way you do. It’s clear to me that based on your present feelings you are making the best choice. I concur that going on with the team feeling as you do towards me as a person and a professional is not healthy. I think it is fair to say our viewpoints and values are not in alignment. It seems best for both parties that we part ways at this point.

Please remove your belongings from the locker room at your convenience.

Best wishes to you as you move forward.

 

I was the second player on my team to quit this year, and the fifth out of twelve to quit from my incoming class. Now, four months later, six more girls have quit. This had nothing to do with our lack of love for the sport, but the abuse we had gone through emotionally. We no longer felt good enough, fit enough, or intelligent enough. I looked at myself and the words ’35-year-old male’ echoed in my head. This man was not a good coach, nor did he nurture the talent that we had. He was an abuser, and being a college coach, he has found a way to have an endless stream of victims. It was hard not to tell each recruit to go back home and never look back, and the school didn’t deserve that.

I do not regret playing soccer at my school. I have made memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. I have also faced this type of man for the first time in my life, but I know it will not be the last. He will be a graduate professor, or a future employer. I know what to look for in this type of person, and how to protect myself and even potentially succeed under this type of distress.

I still love soccer, but I love it for another reason. It has shown me that sometimes you will have god-awful luck, but that doesn’t mean you should quit – but at the same time, quitting isn’t what makes you weak. It sometimes means that you have grown enough to realize what is best for you, and in that way, quitting may ultimately be the best choice. It gives you time to refocus your efforts. It makes you stronger.