Brighton, Huddersfield and Newcastle are surpassing expectations and are showing clubs such as Everton and West Ham how it should be done
When Pep Guardiola suggested an English team could win the Champions League the other day he was asked if he did not consider the intensity of the Premier League a potential problem. Intensity being the word normally used to promote the idea that the English league is somehow tougher and more demanding than other leagues around Europe, with more competitive fixtures each weekend and a festive programme that usually sets out to be as gruelling as possible when other countries’ footballers are quite sensibly having a rest.
“No,” Guardiola said. “I don’t believe in that. I think the best team will win; it’s nothing to do with intensity.”
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