#秋日生活打卡季#The Premier League’s age of attacking football is here – The Briefing

英超进攻足球的时代已经到来 – 简报

By Nick Miller 作者：尼克·米勒

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during the season The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football.

欢迎来到简报会，赛季的每个星期一，The Athletic都会讨论周末足球比赛中出现的三个最大问题。

This was the weekend when Chelsea’s start to life under Mauricio Pochettino stumbled again, Tottenham Hotspur pulverised Burnley, Newcastle United slumped to their third defeat in a row and Mohamed Salah briefly became a footballer again, rather than a walking piece of transfer speculation.

这个周末，切尔西在莫里西奥·波切蒂诺的带领下再次跌跌撞撞，托特纳姆热刺粉碎了伯恩利，纽卡斯尔联队连续第三场失利，穆罕默德·萨拉赫短暂地再次成为一名足球运动员，而不是转会猜测的跑路角色。

Here, we will ask whether this is the most enjoyable time to be a Premier League watcher, if Gareth Southgate will throw caution to the wind with his attacking options, and how much we should worry about the three newly promoted sides…

在这里，我们会问，这是否是成为英超观察者最愉快的时刻，加雷斯·索斯盖特是否会对他的进攻选择持谨慎态度，以及我们应该为三支新升级的球队担心多少......

Are we in the age of fun in the Premier League?

我们是否处于英超联赛的欢乐时代？

You can forget that all of this is supposed to be fun.

你可以忘记这一切应该是有趣的。

It doesn’t feel like it a lot of the time, particularly when you pay as close attention to the machinations of football as much as we do. But then you get a game that pulls you out of all that and reminds you to strip all the extraneous stuff away, and just enjoy it all.

很多时候感觉不像，尤其是当你像我们一样密切关注足球的阴谋时。但是，你得到了一个游戏，它把你从所有这些中拉出来，并提醒你把所有无关紧要的东西都去掉，享受这一切。

A game such as Arsenal versus Manchester United on Sunday, in fact.

事实上，周日阿森纳对阵曼联这样的比赛。

United did their best to play spoilers, particularly in the first half, but even they couldn’t help but contribute to this frantic basketball match in disguise. It was end-to-end, free-flowing, slightly unhinged, not very controlled a lot of the time — everything a neutral wants to see. There wasn’t a fight or a ‘disgraceful incident’ of some description, but you can’t have everything.

曼联尽了最大的努力来搅局，尤其是在上半场，但即使是他们，也忍不住变相为这场疯狂的篮球比赛做出了贡献。它是端到端的，自由流动的，有点精神错乱，很多时候不是很受控制——一个中立者想看到的一切。没有打架或某种描述的“可耻事件”，但你不能拥有一切。

In fact, most of the big Premier League games are like that now. Just this season, Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United, Liverpool vs Newcastle United and Chelsea vs Liverpool (well, the first half at least) were all fairly breathless affairs, giving us neutrals something to get giddy over. Only Manchester City vs Newcastle was a bit of a dud, broadly because City controlled it without too much bother, but even then there was the individual performance of Phil Foden to marvel over.

事实上，现在大多数大型英超比赛都是这样。就在这个赛季，托特纳姆热刺对阵曼联，利物浦对阵纽卡斯尔联，切尔西对阵利物浦（好吧，至少上半场）都是相当令人窒息的事情，让我们中立者感到头晕目眩。只有曼城对阵纽卡斯尔的比赛有点哑巴，因为曼城没有太多麻烦就控制了它，但即便如此，菲尔·福登的个人表现也令人惊叹。

It’s been like this for a little while, too. Gone are the days when you puffed your cheeks out at the prospect of another Chelsea vs Liverpool game and turned the TV on out of grim duty, rather than excited anticipation.

这种情况也已经有一段时间了。你对另一场切尔西对阵利物浦的比赛的前景鼓起脸颊，出于严峻的职责而不是兴奋的期待而打开电视的日子已经一去不复返了。

Maybe it’s got something to do with the managers. Most of the big clubs now are led by men who prioritise attacking football, in one way or another. Erik ten Hag at Manchester United is possibly the exception, but of the teams who will be competing for the top four, we have Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mikel Arteta, Ange Postecoglou, Eddie Howe and Mauricio Pochettino. Then just outside that group, there’s Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton and Unai Emery at Aston Villa. Hell, even David Moyes’s West Ham are dancing like nobody’s watching this season.

也许这与主教练有关。现在大多数大俱乐部都由以某种方式优先考虑进攻足球的男性领导。曼联的埃里克·滕哈格可能是例外，但在争夺前四名的球队中，我们有瓜迪奥拉、尤尔根·克洛普、米克尔·阿尔特塔、安格·波斯特科格鲁、埃迪·豪和毛里西奥·波切蒂诺。然后就在那个小组之外，布莱顿的罗伯托·德泽尔比和阿斯顿维拉的乌奈·埃梅里。见鬼，即使是大卫·莫耶斯的西汉姆联也在跳舞，就像这个赛季没有人看一样。

Newcastle have their moments of playing like Sean Dyche-era Burnley, but they scored 68 goals last season and their four games so far this term have featured 14, so you’d be unlikely to call them dull.

纽卡斯尔有像肖恩·戴奇时代的伯恩利一样踢球的时刻，但他们上赛季打进了68个进球，本赛季到目前为止的四场比赛已经打进了14个进球，所以你不太可能说他们沉闷。

It’s true elsewhere, too. Only two teams kept a clean sheet this weekend: Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Arguably only the latter played ‘defensively’, but it was still entertaining and effective, with their 1-0 win at Chelsea. The 10 Premier League games featured 41 goals; it’s not quite Boxing Day 1961, which saw 66, but it’s not bad.

其他地方也是如此。本周末只有两支球队保持零封：利物浦和诺丁汉森林。可以说只有后者打得“防守”，但这仍然很有趣，也很有效，他们在切尔西1-0获胜。10场英超比赛有41个进球;虽然不是1961年的节礼日，只是第66个节礼日，但也不赖。

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that this will be just the third season since 2003-04 and the first since 2011-12 when none of Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Rafa Benitez will be in charge of a Premier League club. This is not to say those managers were not capable of putting on a watchable game, just that they prioritised defence and control. The current crop might enjoy control too, but it’s more attacking and also features a dollop of chaos.

也许这不是巧合，这将是自2003-04赛季以来的第三个赛季，也是自2011-12赛季以来的第一个赛季，当时穆里尼奥，安东尼奥·孔蒂和拉法·贝尼特斯都不会执教英超俱乐部。这并不是说这些主教练没有能力上演一场可观看的比赛，只是他们优先考虑防守和控制。目前的趋势也可能受到控制，但它更具攻击性，并且还具有混乱的特点。

This is not intended to be a marketing spiel for the Premier League, which needs no help in bigging itself up. But the football itself is, for the most part, great fun, which at a time when a lot of stories surrounding the game are not, is more important than ever.

这并不是英超联赛的营销口号，英超联赛不需要帮助来壮大自己。但足球本身在很大程度上是非常有趣的，在围绕比赛的许多故事都不是的时候，它比以往任何时候都更加重要。

Southgate’s selection headaches

索斯盖特的选择令人头疼

As a rule, people — fans, the media, pundits — think about international football in a very different way than international managers.

通常，人们——球迷、媒体、专家——对国际足球的看法与国际教练大不相同。

Our opinions tend to be governed by club form: if a player is doing well domestically they should do well internationally, ergo they should be in the national team. That’s why there’s always a generalised frothing on social media whenever the latest England squad is announced: “If Southgate can’t see that Player X deserves a place, he should be SACKED”. That sort of thing.

我们的观点倾向于由俱乐部形式决定：如果一名球员在国内表现良好，他们应该在国际上表现出色，因此他们应该进入国家队。这就是为什么每当最新的英格兰队公布时，社交媒体上总是会出现一种普遍的泡沫：“如果索斯盖特看不到球员X应该得到一个位置，他应该被解雇”。这种事情。

Southgate thinks more of England as a self-contained entity: if you do well for him, it is less relevant if you’re doing badly for your club. That dogma was why he didn’t pick in-form players such as Raheem Sterling for the upcoming games against Ukraine and Scotland: England scored 11 goals in two games the last time they played, so why make big changes?

索斯盖特更多地认为英格兰队是一个自给自足的实体：如果你为他做得很好，如果你为你的俱乐部做得不好就不那么重要了。这个教条就是为什么他没有在即将到来的对阵乌克兰和苏格兰的比赛中选择像拉希姆·斯特林这样状态良好的球员：英格兰上一次在两场比赛中打进了11个进球，那么为什么要做出重大改变呢？

All that said, he’s got a few very interesting decisions to make in this international break. James Maddison is in the form of his life in midfield for a brilliant, attacking Tottenham side and Southgate has picked him in two of England’s last three games, but off the left alongside Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka, rather than in the roving role he’s been excelling in so far.

综上所述，在这个国际比赛日，他有一些非常有趣的决定。詹姆斯·麦迪逊在中场的表现非常出色，进攻型托特纳姆热刺，索斯盖特在英格兰最近三场比赛中有两场选择了他，但与哈里·凯恩和布卡约·萨卡一起在左路，而不是他迄今为止擅长的巡回角色。

Then there’s Jude Bellingham, who has five goals from four games and has been winning games on his own for Real Madrid, basically playing as a No 10. Throw in Kane, Saka and Marcus Rashford, who to one extent or another have all started the season very well, and there’s a plethora of brilliant attacking options available to Southgate.

然后是裘德·贝林汉姆，他在四场比赛中打进了五个进球，并且一直在为皇家马德里赢得比赛，基本上是10号。加上凯恩、萨卡和拉什福德，他们在某种程度上都很好地开局了这个赛季，索斯盖特有很多出色的进攻选择。

18 – Since his first season in the Premier League (2018-19), no player has scored more goals from outside the box in the competition than James Maddison (18, level with James Ward-Prowse). Longbow.

18 – 自从他在英超联赛的第一个赛季（2018-19 赛季）以来，没有哪个球员在比赛中从禁区外进球比詹姆斯·麦迪逊（18 岁，与詹姆斯·沃德-普劳斯持平）更多。他很擅长弧线球。

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 2, 2023

— 奥塔乔 （@OptaJoe） 2023 年 9 月 2 日

He’s generally a pretty pragmatic manager, prioritising solidity in defence. And given his record with England, he might well be right.

他通常是一个非常务实的主教练，优先考虑防守的稳定性。考虑到他在英格兰的从业记录，他很可能是对的。

But true pragmatism is actually just making the best of the resources available. This is a moment when England not only have all these terrific attackers, but all of them are playing near the top of their form. It would be wonderful if Southgate took the handbrake off just a little bit.

但真正的实用主义实际上只是充分利用可用的资源。在这个时刻，英格兰不仅拥有所有这些出色的前锋，而且他们都处于最佳状态。如果索斯盖特稍微把手刹取下来一点，那就太好了。

Is it looking bleak for the three promoted teams?

对于三支升级球队来说，这是不是看起来很黯淡？

Sheffield United picked up their first point of the season on Saturday. And it wasn’t just their first point: it was the first point won by any of the three promoted clubs, with Luton Town and Burnley also losing their first three games.

谢菲尔德联队在周六拿到了本赛季的第一分。这不仅仅是他们的第一分：这是三支升级俱乐部中任何一家赢得的第一分，卢顿镇和伯恩利也输掉了前三场比赛。

The last time none of the three promoted clubs won any of their first three games was in 2004-05, when Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace collected six points between them, all draws. The only other time was in 1993-94, when Newcastle, West Ham and Swindon Town only managed two draws. Never before in the 31 previous Premier League seasons have the promoted trio failed to get a single point from their first three games.

上一次三家升级俱乐部在前三场比赛中没有赢球是在2004-05赛季，当时诺维奇、西布罗姆维奇和水晶宫在他们之间获得了6分，都是平局。唯一的一次是在1993-94赛季，当时纽卡斯尔，西汉姆联和斯温登镇只取得了两场平局。在之前的31个英超赛季中，升级的三人从未在前三场比赛中未能获得一分。

Luton manager Rob Edwards has his work cut out already (David Rogers/Getty Images)

卢顿主教练罗伯·爱德华兹的工作已经被中断（大卫·罗杰斯/盖蒂图片社）

In other words: for the collected promoted clubs, this is the worst opening to a season in the history of the Premier League.

换句话说：对于谈到的升班马俱乐部来说，这是英超历史上最糟糕的赛季开局。

The flaws in all three are relatively clear. Luton’s squad is basically an excellent collection of Championship players, just in the wrong division. Sheffield United sold their two best players and didn’t replace them until the season had started. Burnley look like they’re trying to do exactly what they did to get promoted, with only slightly better players but against much better opposition, which isn’t working so far. They will have to find a way of winning that doesn’t involve dominating possession, pronto.

这三者的缺陷都相对明显。卢顿的球队基本上是一群优秀的英冠级别球员，只是在错误的分档里。谢菲尔德联队卖掉了他们最好的两名球员，直到赛季开始才开始作补充。伯恩利看起来他们正在努力做他们的优化升级，只投资稍好一点的球员，但面对更好的对手，到目前为止这还没有奏效。他们将不得不找到一种不涉及控制控球权的获胜方式。

This is not to write them all off already: it’s far too early for that. Sheffield United showed some promise against Everton. Luton can be extremely awkward and will probably pick up a few points simply by being a pain in the arse to face. Burnley could grow into it, and have been given an extremely tricky start to the season — Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham — even if they were all at home.

这并不意味着他们已经一笔勾销了：现在还为时过早。谢菲尔德联在对阵埃弗顿的比赛中表现出了一些希望。卢顿可能非常尴尬，可能会因为从头到尾的痛苦折磨而获得几分。伯恩利可能会进步，并且本赛季的开局非常棘手——曼城、阿斯顿维拉和托特纳姆热刺——即使他们都在主场作战。

But the only season in Premier League history when all three promoted teams have gone straight back down was 1997-98. You fear that 2023-24 has a chance of being the second.

但英超历史上唯一一个三支升级球队都直接降级的赛季是1997-98赛季。你担心 2023-24 年有机会成为第二个。

Coming up 即将到来的是？

Thought the transfer window was over? Think again! English clubs still have the chance to offload their unwanted players to Belgium (window closes on September 6), Greece (September 11), Turkey (September 15) and a few other European countries. Happy deadwood week!

以为转会窗口已经结束了吗？三思而后行！英格兰俱乐部仍然有机会将他们不想要的球员转移到比利时（9月6日窗口关闭），希腊（9月11日），土耳其（9月15日）和其他一些欧洲国家。枯木周快乐！

The other big one is, of course, Saudi Arabia, whose clubs can sign and register new players until September 7. The big continuing rumour is, of course, whether Al Ittihad will succeed in their very persistent attempts to recruit Salah, but there will be others too, no doubt.

当然，另一个大问题是沙特阿拉伯，其俱乐部可以在9月7日之前签约和注册新球员。当然，持续不断的大谣言是，吉达联合队是否会成功招募萨拉赫的非常坚持不懈的尝试，但毫无疑问，还会有其他人。

England are in action: they will face Ukraine in Wroclaw, Poland on Saturday in a Euro 2024 qualifier, then a friendly at Hampden Park against Scotland next Tuesday, September 12.

英格兰队正在行动：他们将于周六在波兰弗罗茨瓦夫的 2024 年欧洲杯预选赛中面对乌克兰，然后是 9 月 12 日下周二在汉普顿公园对阵苏格兰的友谊赛。

The pick of the other internationals sees France face the Republic of Ireland, an extremely spicy local affair between Turkey and Armenia, Luciano Spalletti takes charge of his first Italy game as they face North Macedonia, the side who prevented them from qualifying for the World Cup, and next week Germany will face France in a friendly.

其他的国家队比赛中，法国面对爱尔兰，以及一场土耳其和亚美尼亚之间极其刺激的当地比赛，卢西亚诺·斯帕莱蒂负责他的第一场意大利比赛，因为他们面对阻止他们获得世界杯资格的球队北马其顿，下周德国将在友谊赛中面对法国。

Nick Miller is a football writer for the Athletic and the Totally Football Show. He previously worked as a freelancer for the Guardian, ESPN and Eurosport, plus anyone else who would have him.

尼克·米勒（Nick Miller）是《运动和完全足球秀》（Athletic and the Whole Football Show）的足球作家。他之前曾在卫报，ESPN和欧洲体育以及任何其他拥有他的人担任自由职业者。

From The Athletic