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The international break for England is of no consequence and therefore of even less interest to us – and we suspect more than usual to the majority of you.
But while Premier League managers will be keeping an eye on their players’ involvement with injuries and ‘red zone’ theory, the extremely disappointing break also means we look set to see a flurry of star players return to short order when club competition resumes.
Good for them, their managers, their clubs and us, but not good for the players who have rewarded their absence with increased game time.
And we’ve come up with five players who we think will be dropped when the Premier League returns to its higher, more decisive or simply better football teammates.
Alejandro Garnacho (Chelsea)
The jury was still out Grenache Before the 3-0 win against Wolves and still, it was the 3-0 win against Wolves: two-point, managerless Wolves as one of the unfortunate women involved in poorly directed action thrillers starring opposite Liam Nemsen.
But the $40 million summer signing produced two fine and very different assists in the game, dunking a delightful right-footed cross for Malo Gusto and then embarrassing Santiago Buono with some very impressive dribbling at pace before squaring the ball to Pedro Neto from his left.
Enzo Maresca has had nothing but good things to say about Garnacho’s work-rate in training and games, which is at odds with former boss Ruben Amorim’s views, and the Argentina international has been clear of Jamie Gittens in the Premier League pecking order even as he returns to Manchester United after a decent pre-season.
But Cole Palmer will soon be back from injury, obviously playing as Chelsea’s most influential attacking player in Chelsea’s best team, and we have Garnacho as the player to make way.
Enzo Fernandez has been excellent in the No.10 role in Palmer’s absence and Chelsea look far better with Maces Caicedo and either Reese James or Romeo Lavia in the pivot behind him. Which means Palmer could return to the right, where he has been most destructive for Chelsea anyway.
It will then be a straight toss-up between Pedro Neto and Garnacho on the left, and Neto wins the battle as a toss-up, even if it is his best position.
READ: Enzo Mariska isn’t getting the Chelsea credit he deserves from you, America or anyone else
Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
Luke Shaw has found himself back in the unassuming Luke Shaw groove, with the outfit a prime sign of the rhythm that eluded him for most of last season and with such regularity in the lulls that no one can believe is now an 11-year Manchester United career.
Amorim can be credited with this As a 30-year-old, To save his complex lego legs for playing him to the left of his three centre-backs, and for his management of a player who has developed his best form by nurturing his good qualities and instead calling him a big Jose Mourinho.
“Luke Shaw is a world-class player,” Amorim said in July, speaking on his departure from the club. “That’s my feeling. You can feel it in the little things. When he touches the ball, the ability to play against one.”
It is not at all clear who Amorim will prefer between Shaw and Lezandro Martinez, who is now back in training, as they have never been fit at the same time in Amorim’s year-long spell.
And it feels like a choice between seven out of ten, who knows what you know about Shaw and an X-factor player in Lezandro Martinez, who is a man for the big moments but can also make terrible stops, especially when the game hasn’t happened for a while.
Amorim doing “something different” against Tottenhamwhich paid off until he messed things up with his replacement, suggests he’s (finally) reached a point with this United squad where he can be a bit more daring, and Martinez represents a threat that admittedly could be a lot of contention but could also be the difference to take them to the next level.
Read: Patrick Dorgo is not a ‘dud’ and man should be ashamed of himself for trusting someone who thinks he is
Giorgi Mammadashvili (Liverpool)
What if Liverpool’s crisis hadn’t changed too much too soon, Florian Wirtz is a weak-willed pansy, Arne Slott is a big bald fraud, Mohamed Salah’s legs are running or Virgil van Dijk is all to blame, but in fact it is. The best backup goalkeeper in the Premier League In fact, Alisson’s stance has been so poor that he has single-handedly faced the demise of this once great football club.
Only Kaviman Keller and Jos Sa are below Mamardashvili Premier League Goalkeeper Rankingsand we suspect we’d have to go a long way to find a Liverpool player with fewer points per game (ppg) than a Liverpool player. Ellison has 2.5 ppg this season.
Richarlison (Tottenham)
Like the 2024/2025 version of Erling Haaland, Richarlisson stood up front doing a sweet f-all against Manchester United, but who cares if he scores the winner? Not really a winner, despite celebrations to the contrary, and he also missed – not just the goal but the ball – when given a huge chance to open the scoring in the first half and has nothing close to Holland’s goalscoring record other than being able to get into the team.
Read more: Richarlison is pure, bare-chested, brilliant, vulgar and often stupid Spurs
Thomas Frank’s problem is that Tottenham have signed a collection of strikers who were at one point billed as stars of the future but are undergoing a collective mask-slip in north London to expose them as utter frauds.
Randall Kolo Moani doesn’t want to be at Tottenham and it’s hilarious and the only way Mathis Talley can score goals is through mass rumours, meaning Richarlison is essentially keeping his place by default until Dominic Solinik returns.
Frank didn’t fancy Solanic before his ankle injury, and only featured him as a short substitute in the two Premier League games he was fit for at the start of the season. But while the 28-year-old is far from a polished finisher and we suspect a new striker will be high on Spurs’ priority list in 2026, he rarely occupies defenders and opens up space for players around him, and Richarlison generally provides nothing.
Aberchie Eze (Arsenal)
It’s hard for us not to let our admiration for Eze — we love the guy — affect our opinion of him. Everything he does on the football pitch, including Arsenal this season, looks so effortlessly cool and we can’t help but gravitate towards him on a per-task basis and call it that. what a boy
but, Buthe hasn’t been that big, has he? It is too early to tell whether his relative lack of influence is down to his style at Arsenal compared to Crystal Palace, but Mikel Arteta is highly unlikely to stick with an aesthetically pleasing footballer as manager. all About getting teams either way.
Martin Odegaard was a bit pants from his standout last season, compared to his earlier season displays, but he was back to his peak against Olympiakos, and before this fresh injury was splitting them open at will. And remarkably, the captain has 19 shot-making actions in just 294 minutes of action this season, compared to EZE’s 27 in 1,147 minutes.
In a supposed bid to score more goals from open playOdegaard’s reunification in the starting lineup is certainly key, and we’ve seen nothing from Eze on the left to suggest he’s a better bet than Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli at that flick.
