Popular narratives and conventional wisdom are sometimes right. Heck, Occam's razor suggests that the simplest explanation is more likely than the more complex one to be correct. Of course, Occam -- who wasn't actually called Occam, but was rather a 14th-century Franciscan monk who happened to be from a village named Ockham, a few miles down the road from Chelsea's training ground -- lived in a world without sports and, specifically, football. So take it with a pinch of salt.
Here's a look at some popular recent narratives and how they stack up.
'Liverpool's somewhat disappointing early-season performances and results are largely down to decisions made in the transfer window'
And yes, we're not just talking about the three straight road defeats (Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea), because you need to lump those six straight victories in all competitions into it. Because those weren't convincing performances either -- a plan based on scoring late, late winners is no plan at all -- and it was fairly evident that 2025-26 Liverpool bore only a passing resemblance to 2024-25 Liverpool, the side that wrapped up the Premier League title before the end of April.
So what's changed? Well, the guys playing. Liverpool said goodbye to Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez (not everyone's cup of tea, but still a mainstay who ate up a lot of minutes) among others in the transfer window, while adding two brand-spanking-new fullbacks (Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong), two new strikers (Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak) and Florian Wirtz, a huge talent of the sort you build your team around.
- O'Hanlon: Should Liverpool worry about Salah's form?
Clubs that dominate a league and win a title with a month to spare don't usually add five starter-level players in one go. In fact, I can't think of a recent example, and there's a reason for that. It's hugely disruptive.
Oh, and it becomes even more disruptive when the record signing (Isak) only joins on the last day of the transfer window. And the left back (Kerkez) is nothing like the guy he's replacing, and the right back (Frimpong) even less so (to be fair, Alexander-Arnold was pretty unique, which is why Arne Slot has at times tried to reinvent Dominik Szoboszlai in that role). Then there's Wirtz, originally handed the No. 10 position despite the fact that he played a different role in a different system with Bayer Leverkusen last year.
Steve Nicol believes Mo Salah could be facing a crisis in confidence this season as his struggles continued vs Chelsea.
A variety of reasons forced Liverpool to overhaul their squad in the summer, and they used the opportunity to add some exceptional players who will likely move the needle long term. But this is a team sport, and it takes time for a group of players -- however gifted -- to gel into a team. It's time Slot hasn't yet had.
Verdict: CORRECT
'Ruben Amorim needs to be flexible and not be so pig-headed about using his 3-4-2-1 system'
I'm not going to argue that Manchester United have been good with the 3-4-2-1 setup. Fifty games into the job, Amorim's results are by far the worst of any manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson. It's possible that they'd be better off in a system that is less exotic and more suited to the players they do have.
But Amorim was hired to play in a 3-4-2-1 -- after all, his version of the system and its implementation at Sporting CP is what convinced Manchester United to give him the job in the first place. If you're going to switch systems to something that is more familiar or more suited to the players, you're better off changing managers.
Spending a fortune on Amorim, following up with a big summer outlay on players who are supposed to fit his system, and then asking him to ditch what got him the Old Trafford gig in the first place is like booking Travis Scott to play your wedding, but then demanding, 20 minutes into it, that he sing some old Bob Dylan favorites because you realize nobody there likes "FE!N" or "Skyfall." His rendition of "Blowin' in the Wind" would probably stink and, more importantly, you don't need Travis Scott if you're going to do that.
So if you're going to ditch Amorim's system, ditch the manager. Otherwise, stay committed for as long as you can bear it.
Verdict: INCORRECT
'Barcelona's high defensive line is a problem'
It's not my taste, but Barca won a domestic Double and came within a whisker of a Champions League final playing in that way. (Hindsight is 20/20, but if Lamine Yamal takes the ball into the corner and waits to be fouled rather than pinging the ball off the post on the counter-attack in the second minute of injury time, then Francesco Acerbi doesn't score, Barca are in the final and, maybe, we have different European champions and a different Ballon d'Or winner.)
Barca's problem isn't tactics: Hansi Flick plays that way, he's been successful with it, and it's yielded results. Rather, it's execution and personnel. For it to work, you need your attackers to have continuous, coordinated pressure at the right times, otherwise it's an easy ball over the top and a foot race. That's not easy to do, but when it works, it works very well. Barcelona haven't had that in recent outings -- both against Sevilla and against Paris Saint-Germain -- and they paid a high price for it.
Shaka Hislop and Alejandro Moreno discuss Barcelona's 4-1 loss to Sevilla and question Hansi Flick's lack of a Plan B.
The other issue is personnel. If you play a high line, you're asking a ton of your defenders, particularly the center backs. A lot of the time they have to defend in space, and defend while running back towards their own goal. Both are difficult things to do; neither is particularly fun. It's hugely draining, both physically and mentally, and when you get it wrong, you look stupid.
So it helps to have exceptional defenders in their prime. Except, that's not what Barcelona have. Pau Cubarsí is their best defender, but lest we forget, he only turned 18 this year. How many teenagers not named Paolo Maldini can you name who were a part of a dominant Champions League-winning defense? Exactly.
(By the way, Maldini wasn't playing center back at 18 and marshaling the defensive line; the guy doing it was Franco Baresi, and he was pretty good.)
- Hunter: Barca's collapse has been months in the making
Barca's other center backs are Ronald Araújo (mired in a downward spiral for the past two years), Eric García (a utility player for most of his career) and the oft-injured, usually pedestrian Andreas Christensen, he of the two league starts last season. Nobody, other than their close relatives, would likely put any of those three among the top 50 at the position.
It's funny how a high line suddenly looks a whole lot better when the front men are doing their job and when the back four's individual quality is comparable to that of the front four.
Verdict: INCORRECT
'Arsenal were smart to add depth to their side and can now legitimately challenge for silverware domestically and in Europe'
You might have missed it, but the Gunners challenged last season too. They reached the Champions League semifinal and finished second in the Premier League. That they didn't come any closer is probably down to a mysterious decision that was made in the January window.
With Gabriel Jesus out for the season, Kai Havertz was their only center forward option. And when they couldn't sign Ollie Watkins in January, they decided they didn't need to pick up another body up front. That choice backfired badly. Havertz went down a few days after the window closed and that was that.
Don Hutchison and Julien Laurens analyse Arsenal's Premier League win over West Ham.
Lesson learned. After a summer that saw the arrival of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Christian Norgaard and Piero Hincapié, they now have legitimate options. In fact, Arsenal's second XI could probably challenge for a Champions League place.
So yes, they're better because they don't have to pretend Mikel Merino can play center forward now, and Ethan Nwaneri doesn't have to step in for Bukayo Saka even though his skill set is entirely different. Also, Havertz doesn't have to play every minute of every game; in fact, even when he comes back from injury, he'll likely play second fiddle to Gyökeres.
Here comes the caveat. Mikel Arteta's success thus far has been built on chemistry and consistency. When you rotate, you lose that. Managing a bigger squad of would-be starters is a different skill, one he may or may not master quickly.
If, last season, he was the chef with a limited number of high-quality ingredients who served up the same delicious meal again and again, now he has many more ingredients. He'll have to vary his recipe to benefit from them.