It took just one round of the Premier League to puncture the preseason positivity surrounding Manchester United and Tottenham. In the middle was a win for Everton in front of Britain’s recently installed prime minister and a victory for another promoted club, Ipswich. Saturday in England’s top division began with United, the 20-time champion with a new permanent manager and a freshly renovated midfield, getting rolled over by promoted Hull in an embarrassing 2-0 loss. It ended with Tottenham, one of the biggest spenders in Europe this summer with $300 million – and counting – of new players in its squad, getting overwhelmed in a 3-0 defeat at Brentford.
First-half goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy at set-pieces consigned United to a tepid loss away to a team that was promoted via the second-tier Championship playoffs and is widely expected to be among the relegation candidates. Andy Burnham took in his first Everton match since becoming Britain’s prime minister last month and saw Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry score goals for the hosts. They struggled to impress along with many other players in a lackluster team display that showed United – last a Premier League champion in 2013 under Alex Ferguson – still has far to go to recapture its former glories and is unlikely to challenge for the title, at least on this evidence anyway. Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali, who joined for a club-record $133 million from Newcastle, was among the new signings in a Spurs team that was completely outplayed by a settled Brentford lineup, which was two goals ahead by the 33rd thanks to close-range strikes by Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt.
“It was never going to be perfect,” said Michael Carrick, who was rewarded for leading United to a third-place finish last season and a return to the Champions League with a permanent contract over the summer.
