5 talking points from English football this weekend

After almost three months away, competitive club football is finally back underway in England. The Premier League isn’t back until later this week, but the Football League is back underway, and it’s been a fascinating weekend.

In the Championship, Frank Lampard began his first management job at Derby with a win over Reading. Marcelo Bielsa has a lot more experience in management than Lampard, but he also made his bow in the Football League with Leeds, who beat Stoke 3-1.

West Brom are another side who were relegated from the Premier League last season, and they also got going with a defeat, as they lost to Bolton Wanderers at the Hawthorns. Swansea were the other team to be relegated from the Premier League, but they kicked off their season with a win over Sheffield United.

In League One, Sunderland began their season with a dramatic win over Charlton, as the Black Cats aim to avoid a third consecutive relegation. Accrington Stanley’s first ever game in the third division of English football saw them lose 2-0 to Gillingham. It was a similar trend for the other clubs promoted to League One, with Luton Town, Wycombe, and Coventry City also failing to win.

In League Two, the biggest win of the weekend came at Crewe, where they hammered Morecambe 6-0. Promoted Macclesfield Town suffered a cruel defeat to Swindon, conceding two penalties in injury time. The other promoted side was Tranmere Rovers, who drew 2-2 with Stevenage.

On Sunday, the ceremonial curtain raiser of the Community Shield took place, with Manchester City coming out on top ahead of Chelsea. Here are five talking points from the weekend’s action in England.

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#1 Maurizio Sarri still has a lot of work to do

Sarri had a frustrating start to his career at Chelsea

Chelsea left it very late to replace Antonio Conte with Maurizio Sarri this summer, and he hasn’t had the chance to improve the team to his satisfaction yet. He brought Jorginho with him from Napoli, but he is the only major signing the Blues have made so far this summer. As we saw on Sunday in the Community Shield at Wembley, Chelsea are far from where Sarri would want them to be, and they are well behind Manchester City in terms of quality.

Of course, there were still a number of players missing following the World Cup, but there would have been very little to encourage Sarri. His players were slow, laboured in possession, and looked vulnerable defensively. Up top, Alvaro Morata’s confidence looks to have hit rock bottom, and it would be a risk for Chelsea to rely on him for the full season.

#2 Frank Lampard can do the business at Derby

Lampard got off to a winning start with Derby on Friday night

Friday night saw Frank Lampard make his managerial debut, as his Derby side travelled to the Madejski Stadium to take on Reading. His side didn’t make a great start, and were comfortably second best in the first half, and went behind shortly after the break when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson headed home from near the penalty spot.

Lampard’s Derby side were much better after the break though, and were soon level through Chelsea-loanee Mason Mount. It looked destined that the game would end in a draw, before a spectacular header from Tom Lawrence in the final minute of added time earned Derby the three points. It was clear that Lampard has made his mark on Derby. There was a conscious attempt to play an attractive, attacking brand of football, and it very much appeared to be the sort of thing Lampard was hoping for.

#3 Leeds United are much improved under Bielsa

Bielsa will be hoping to make an instant impact at Leeds

Eyebrows were raised across Europe this summer when it was announced that Marcelo Bielsa would be taking over Leeds United. Leeds have grown a reputation for sacking managers after any sort of failure, while many see Bielsa as one of the top managers in Europe, seeing him come to the Championship was a massive coup for Leeds.

Of course, it has been only one game, so it is too early to say that Leeds are suddenly promotion contenders this season, but they were certainly much improved under Bielsa. They were superb in the first half, and went 2-0 up, having blown Stoke away in the opening 45 minutes, and it easily could have been more. It eventually ended 3-1, and there will be much encouragement for Bielsa, and he will believe that he can take Leeds back to the Premier League.

#4 Things could finally be on the up for Sunderland

It has been a difficult couple of years for Sunderland fans

It has been a disastrous couple of years at Sunderland. In 2016/17 under David Moyes, they were relegated in shocking fashion, having been in the drop zone from almost start to finish. Last season wasn’t much better, as under a combination of Simon Grayson and Chris Coleman, they finished bottom of the Championship, condemning them to third division football for the first time since 1988.

It looked like it was more of the same on Saturday, as Lyle Taylor gave opponents Charlton an early lead. However Sunderland levelled through Josh Maja, and in front of a crowd of over 31,000, they nicked all three points in added time thanks to Lynden Gooch.

There is now a belief at Sunderland, and they have been able to get rid of a number of players, meaning that the squad is now made up mainly of young players, who are willing to work hard for the club. This is certainly something they didn’t have last season.

#5 Discipline is still a problem for Yeovil Town

Yeovil have had constant disciplinary issues in recent years

There were a number of stories from League Two this weekend, but none more notable than that of Yeovil Town. Opening day hasn’t been kind to the Glovers in the last couple of years. Last year they were beaten 8-2 away at Luton, and this year raised yet more questions.

Away at Bury, Yeovil were arguably the better team for the first 55 or so minutes, before Tom James was sent off for a second bookable offence. Ten minutes later, they were reduced to nine men, when Jordan Green saw red for a shocking challenge on Neil Danns. They were eventually beaten when Gold Omoyato scored an 89th minute winner.

The issue of discipline is not a new one for Yeovil. This was the fourth time in 32 matches that they have been reduced to nine men, and they have now picked up more red cards than any other team in the Football League since the start of last season. This could be a real problem for Yeovil, who on paper, have one of the weaker sides in League Two, and can’t afford to have players out suspended.