Premier League opens Saturday: Bleacher Report UK poised to score
Wayne Rooney. Photo by Getty Images.
The 2013-14 Premier League season is almost upon us, but you knew that already. You knew it because, wherever you are in the world, there are myriad channels carrying that information to you in myriad ways.
You might not even like football (or you pretend you don’t). But such is the reach of the Premier League these days it’s become impossible to ignore it. You know who Wayne Rooney is. You see people wearing Chelsea shirts. There is a bar near you that shows live games.
If you’re a fan, we’ve got good news for you. The launch of Bleacher Report UK has delivered extra focus to our coverage and we’ll be bringing you the Premier League like you’ve never had it before.
Let’s start with some marquee signings. Acclaimed pundit and former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore will be writing a weekly column—here’s his take on Wayne Rooney’s possible move to Chelsea—and also taking part in our weekly Google+ hangout debates (to run on Fridays).
Jonathan Wilson, arguably the most revered tactical brain in the football media, will also be writing weekly pieces. Here’s his fascinating take on the tactical trends to watch in the Premier League this season.
We’ve also signed Guillem Balague, author of the best-selling Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning and a hugely respected and established voice in the football media. Guillem will be writing three times a week and also appearing in our Google+ hangouts. Here’s his piece on some potential Barcelona transfer activity.
Like Guillem, Andy Brassell is widely regarded as an authority on European football. A freelance writer and broadcaster with the BBC, TalkSport and others, Andy has also been signed for the season. His debut piece on footballer loyalty is finely crafted and a must-read.
Alex Dimond is another new arrival to boost our output. He joins from ESPN.co.uk and will bring his flair for writing to the biggest Premier League matters. Here’s his take on Stewart Downing’s Liverpool adventure.
We’ve also added club-specific writers to enhance our coverage of the biggest Premier League teams. Rob Pollard and Rob Dawson will be covering City and United from Manchester. James McNicholas and Garry Hayes will be working the Arsenal and Chelsea beats in London.
More signings will follow (perhaps even on deadline day). And then there’s the team we’ve been building over the last year or so.
Sam Tighe might be considered Jonathan Wilson’s natural heir. His EPL 100 ranking leaned on a formula Sam created to measure players by position and attributes. Even if you don’t agree with it, you can’t help admiring the process involved.
Sam’s fellow full-time B/R staffers Alex Livie, Jerrad Peters, Karl Matchett, Michael Cummings and Ian Rodgers are also here to service your Premier League needs. All are proven talents who write with authority.
Also look for some new video content. We’re working on a bunch of new ideas and hope to reveal more in due course. Suffice to say we’ll have cameras on the ground and lean on our pool of talented writers to bring you the most engaging, entertaining content possible.
With that, I’ll leave you to download our Team Stream app (there’s a UK one now if you hadn’t noticed!), get signed up to our newsletters and be sure to follow every kick of the new Premier League season with Bleacher Report.
The action proper starts Saturday.
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Will Tidey is World Football Editor and a Lead Writer at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @willtidey.