In the 2015-16 season, Leicester won the championship miraculously, and last season the Premier League returned to the "old order", and the "new TOP6" demanded from the middle and lower teams, if it were not for Manchester United's last-minute distraction in the Europa League final, the European zone would have a points advantage of more than 8 points over seventh place.

Compared with last summer, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City all completed the change of managers, this year, after Arsene Wenger completed the contract extension with Arsenal, the Premier League giants' positions are collectively stable, and the contracts of the managers will expire in the summer of 2019 at the earliest.

The vast majority of Premier League teams have invested heavily in the transfer market this summer, hoping for a breakthrough in the new season.

In terms of investment, the Premier League continues to far outperform the rest of the European leagues, with the addition of Neymar in the top six transfers this summer, the remaining five are Premier League signings, and seven of the top ten have joined Premier League teams.

In terms of effect, the Manchester duo have clearly strengthened and become the most serious contenders for the Premier League title in the new season together with defending champions Chelsea.

Chelsea have spent £126million on centre-back Antonio Rudiger, midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko and centre-forward Alvaro Morata, but the release of midfielder Nemanja Matic, defender Ake, goalkeeper Begovic and a number of youngsters who went out on loan last season cost more than £100 million.

Boss Antonio Conte was rewarded with a post-season salary increase as a reward, but the contract was not extended and he was not given further power in the transfer market, indicating that both sides have reservations about the future.

In addition, last season's top scorer Diego Costa is almost certain to leave after falling out with Antonio Conte, and the three high-priced newcomers have no previous Premier League experience, so it is still unclear whether they can have the effect of N'Golo Kante's "plug and play" last season.

Chelsea's first team is seriously lacking in depth on the bench in the new season, and it will still need to add competitive substitutes before the transfer window closes, and they will have to deal with two fronts, making it difficult for Chelsea to defend their title.

Manchester City in Guardiola's first season in charge of the "four empty", this summer to change the backline, the "four senior wingbacks" Zabaleta, Klich, Sagna and Kolarov are all gone, except for Kolarov's transfer to Roma, the remaining three old are not recruited, the same contract expires and leaves the team as winger Jesus, midfielder Fernando and striker Iheanacho were also purged in the middle of the week.

Pep Guardiola's side have invested more than $200 million this summer to strengthen the defence, with new signings Ederson, wing-backs Edouard Mendy, Walker, Danilo and winger Bernardo Silva all worth a lot of money, successfully reducing the average age of the defence.

Comparatively speaking, Manchester City's midfield retains last season's main player and complements Bernardo Silva, while Manchester United have not signed a new contract with last season's top scorer Ibrahimovic, who is recovering from a serious injury, and the attacking power can only be regarded as equal.

Tottenham have been a strong contender for the title in the past two seasons, and the new season should have been an opportunity to break out of the cocoon, but this year Tottenham has been surprisingly low-key in the transfer market, from the club's top management to manager Pochettino, who has become the only team in the Premier League 20 with zero reinforcements, and has let go of the main right gate Walker.

What's more fatal is that Tottenham "moved" to the new Wembley Stadium for the new season due to the construction of a new stadium - last season Tottenham used this venue to play 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses in European competitions, and lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Arsenal brought in Alexandre Lacazette and Kolasinac, but it is still unclear whether they will be able to keep Sanchez "on the thigh".

However, Arsenal are out of the Champions League this summer, the burden on the team is significantly reduced, and they can learn from last year's curved European game for Manchester United.

Liverpool are also at risk of being poached at the core. Once Philippe Coutinho is gone, it will not be easy for Liverpool to replace them before the window closes.

Judging from the latest odds to win the championship, Manchester City is the biggest favorite with 1 to 2.75 and 4.50 to the defending champion Chelsea, Manchester United's winning index is the same as Chelsea, Tottenham's 1 to 11.00, Arsenal, Liverpool are all 1 to 13.00, and Everton, who retains Lukaku, is close behind with 1 to 91.00.

Manchester and Chelsea are competing for the title, and the other three teams are attacking the fourth-place Champions League spot, Everton has the opportunity to become a dark horse, which should be the pattern of the best chance of qualifying for the Premier League in the new season, and Manchester City, which is strong, is expected to have the last laugh. Because, money is not everything, money is Manchester City's.

And what determines the height of Manchester United this season is most likely no longer Mourinho, but Dai Zhiwei, who was recognized as the "third man" in today's football last season.

This summer, Manchester United continued the efficiency of "only" signing four players last summer, bringing in central defender Victor Lindelof, midfielder Nemanja Matic and striker Dai Zhiwei to create a new central axis.

While Jose Mourinho's repeated requests for a winger are yet to arrive, the addition of Dai Zhiwei to the front line is sufficient, and his arrival makes United's squad look close to complete.

David De Gea is still the world's top goalkeeper, and Sergio Romero is also arguably the strongest goalkeeper in the big clubs.

In defensive positions, Valencia + Bailly + Lindelof + Rojo may be Mourinho's first choice, with Smalling, Jones, Blind, Darmian, Luke Shaw and Mensah competing for other positions. After two transfer windows, Lindelof and Eric Bailly's complementary style is expected to strengthen United's defence.

In terms of midfield, judging from the layout of the Super Cup, the iron triangle of Matic + Pogba + Herrera will be Mourinho's first choice. This combination can be called the Premier League's top midfield, but Pogba's performance is inconsistent, Matic still needs to run in, everything remains to be seen.

At least Mourinho's midfield has a combination of interception, organisation and attack, and Fellaini on the bench will still be a battering ram when the Red Devils can't open the situation. Veteran Michael Carrick won't get many chances, and Juan Mata and Ashley Young will struggle for a place in the main line-up.

At the moment, it seems that United's attacking line could be a combination of Mkhitaryan + Rashford + Dai Zhiwei, and Martial will still be a terrible flashpoint if he returns to his form in 2015-16.

As for Lingard, he has more than enough effort but not talent, and his outburst may have to wait habitually until Wembley.

Since Tai joined Manchester United, there has been no end to the debate about whether he will be successful at the Red Devils.

Wayne Rooney, who has left the club to return to Everton, has some advice for Dai Zhiwei, and whether he can succeed at Manchester United will depend largely on his mental quality.

Wayne Rooney said: "Playing at Manchester United is a test of character. Your mental qualities and mental strength must be strong enough to meet the challenge. Manchester United is a team that demands success, and Dai Zhiwei has to prepare for the challenges ahead. ”

"If he can do it, and with the ability he already has, then he's going to be successful. If he's worried about those things all the time, his career at Manchester United will be very difficult. ”

Unlike Manchester United in the Ferguson era, there are no 92 squad players who can still stabilize the dressing room, but Rooney believes the players should carry on some good traditions: "When you're at Manchester United, there are some rules that you have to follow. From the moment I joined the team, Ferguson gave him to me, and then Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes passed it on. ”

So after coming to Manchester, the first thing Dai Zhiwei did was to ask Mendes and Bailly to help, and had a small dinner with several Spanish players in Manchester United and players who joined La Liga.

The Spanish gang in Manchester United is not a small force, David De Gea, Juan Mata and Herrera are all the main players in the team, plus Eric Bailly and Dai Zhiwei, this is definitely a significant force in the dressing room.

The reason why Dai Zhiwei will take the initiative to establish his own small force before the new season is mainly because Manchester United's dressing room is a complete mess now.

Who doesn't know that the Red Devils in the post-Ferguson period are the most difficult to manage internally, and the departure of previous managers is more or less due to infighting.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there will naturally be gangs and factions, and as a multinational force, Manchester United naturally cannot escape this law.

It's complicated!

Complex!

In Dai Zhiwei's view, in fact, Mourinho's rush to clean up Rooney is a complete failure, because after Rooney left, there was no big man in the dressing room who could calm the field, although the prestige of the two captains Carrick and Valencia was not low, but the introverted character was destined to be unable to restrain the players, which is one of the reasons why Pogba was able to repeatedly make clown moves in the previous life.

Mourinho has his own problems, but if Wayne Rooney is still in the team, will Pogba dare to act recklessly in the dressing room?

Rooney, who practices boxing, will definitely teach him how to be a man.

Of course, it is not ruled out that Rooney will fight Mourinho first.

Therefore, before Dai Zhiwei joined Manchester United, he was ready to establish his own small force, in addition to becoming the top name of the Red Devils, he also wanted to become a ball bully in the dressing room, suppressing Pogba and other small things.

The first thing Dai Zhiwei did when he met his new team-mates in the dressing room was to show them his humility and friendliness, and it was inevitable that some people would look at him differently at Old Trafford with 110 million euros, and many of them would work together for a few seasons, even with the help of the Spanish gang, and not with the rest of the people.

He could feel that there were a few people in the team who didn't look very well on his face - not directly, but he could feel a kind of coldness.

However, the Manchester United dressing room was generally more welcoming to Dai Zhiwei's arrival, especially with the deliberate help of the Spanish gang, Dai Zhiwei was quickly accepted, and Mourinho faction players, such as Nemanja Matic, also expressed their friendliness to Dai Zhiwei.

As for those who are cold or even hateful to themselves, he doesn't care at all, because he is not a person with a big heart, and he will definitely take revenge when he has the opportunity later.

But before Dai had more communication with his new team-mates, two days later, United were ready to leave for the United States to start preparing for the warm-up games before the new season.

On July 15, Manchester United's first pre-season warm-up game of the new season was contested at the Home Depot Center, the opponent was the Los Angeles Galaxy, Beckham watched the game live, Carrick led the start as the new captain, and Dai Zhiwei also appeared in the game for the first time wearing Manchester United's No. 7 shirt.

United took the lead just 117 seconds into the opening period, when Jesse Lingard stepped forward and Dai Zhiwei made a clever run to earn himself a chance to get up and fired a low shot into the far corner from 13 yards on the left side of the box.

Because it was a warm-up game, although it was the first goal for Manchester United, he didn't have much excitement, just gave Lingard, who assisted him, a hug.

Manchester United extended the score in the 20th minute, Herrera stepped forward, Juan Mata passed through, Dai Zhiwei appeared just right near the penalty spot, and fired a low shot into the bottom left corner of the net from 12 yards, 2:0.

Dai Zhiwei, who scored a perfect brace, was happy this time and made his classic blowgun celebration.

Mourinho on the sidelines was also eyed to see this goal, and the tacit understanding of Herrera, Mata and Dai Zhiwei, who had all played in La Liga, in this goal, as well as the delicate ball control skills of the La Liga team, also inspired a lot of Mourinho's tactical ideas.

In the past, Mourinho's counterattacks were always fast, but the cooperation of the La Liga trio has added another style to Manchester United's counterattack.

It's just as fast, but it's a lot more delicate.

In the 26th minute, Lingard returned a pass near the bottom line on the left side of the penalty area, and Fellaini fired a powerful shot into the net from 14 yards, 3:0.

Jose Mourinho made all 11 substitutions in the second half, with Marcus Rashford replacing Dai Zhiwei.

Although he only played half the game and the LA Galaxy was limited, Dai Zhiwei could clearly feel that the Manchester United players were better than the Villarreal players, and this style of quick counter-attacking was more suitable for him.

And, he's finally gotten out of the mess he had last season with Villarreal, and now he just needs to do his job and score goals.

He has a hunch that he may have scored more goals this season than he did last season.

You know, last season, he was the double golden boot of the Champions League and La Liga!

After Dai Zhiwei was substituted, Manchester United's goals did not stop.

In the 67th and 72nd minutes, Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial scored two more goals for the Red Devils.

The LA Galaxy then scored twice in a row, but it didn't matter.

Two days later, Manchester United played the second pre-season game in the United States, away to Real Salt Lake, and Dai Zhiwei was given another chance to start.

In the 23rd minute, Real Salt Lake launched a counterattack, Savarino sent a through plug in the middle, and L-Silva inserted it at high speed and scored with a low shot!

1:0, the home team takes the lead!

Subsequently, the competition became Dai Zhiwei's stage.

In the 29th minute, Manchester United played a wonderful match in front of the penalty area, Dai Zhiwei broke into the penalty area and selflessly divided the ball, and Mkhitaryan volleyed directly into the near corner!

1:1, Manchester United equalize!

In the 38th minute, Mkhitaryan reciprocated, after the diagonal pass on the left side of the front, Dai Zhiwei buckled the defender and the goalkeeper, and scored the empty goal!

2:1, Manchester United overtook the score!

Jose Mourinho made all 11 substitutions in the second half, this time without Dai Zhiwei and without a goal, and finally Manchester United won 2-1 against Real Salt Lake City to win two consecutive pre-season games.

Dai Zhiwei only played two first halves in the two warm-up games, but he contributed three goals and one assist, and his performance was almost impeccable.

Their next warm-up game will be the International Champions Cup.

(End of chapter)