“We cannot start the Premier League with our players that were in the World Cup, which is a shame for the most important club competition in Europe,” said Jose Mourinho. But what would happen if he – and the other managers of the Big Six – did not pick any World Cup players?
MANCHESTER CITY: Claudio Bravo; Tosin Adarabioyo, Aymeric Laporte, Eliaquim Mangala; Riyad Mahrez, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Brahim Diaz, Phil Foden, Leroy Sane; Lukas Nmecha.
Not a bad team, though very badly missing some midfield cover for what could be a pretty shaky central defence. Nice to see England youth stars Phil Foden and Lukas Nmecha get a chance; Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane is a hell of a wing-back combination (yes, we know they wouldn’t play as wing-backs, but every sodding City full-back went to the World Cup).
Missing: Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Gabriel Jesus (Brazil), Fernandinho (Brazil), David Silva (Spain), Raheem Sterling (England), Vincent Kompany (Belgium), Bernardo Silva (Brazil), Nicolas Otamendi (Argentina), Danilo (Brazil), Benjamin Mendy (France), Ederson (Brazil), Fabian Delph (England), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Kyle Walker (England), John Stones (England), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium).
MANCHESTER UNITED: Lee Grant; Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw; Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Andreas Perreira, Scott McTominay, Alexis Sanchez; Anthony Martial.
Who needs World Cup stars? That is pretty much half their first-choice side from last season, with some added Lee Grant and a returning Andreas Perreira. And still he bleats. If Jose Mourinho is true to his word – and we see no reason for him to mislead us – that side will start against Leicester on August 10.
Missing: Nemanja Matic (Serbia), David De Gea (Spain), Ashley Young (England), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Paul Pogba (France), Jesse Lingard (England), Victor Lindelof (Sweden), Marcos Rojo (Argentina), Phil Jones (England), Marouane Fellaini (Belgium), Marcus Rashford (England), Fred (Brazil).
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Michel Vorm; Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Ben Davies; Harry Winks, Victor Wanyama; Erik Lamela, Moussa Sissoko, Lucas Moura; Fernando Llorente.
Not an awful team by any stretch of the imagination, though it is worth noting that Tottenham have an XI – Lloris, Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier, Dembele, Eriksen, Alli, Kane – that actually reached the knock-out stages of the World Cup, with nine of them reaching the last four. They are going to be awful tired. So step forward Moussa Sissoko and Fernando Llorente, your time is now.
Missing: Toby Alderweireld (Belgium), Danny Rose (England), Son Heung-min (South Korea), Dele Alli (England), Davinson Sanchez (Colombia), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Eric Dier (England), Mousa Dembele (Belgium), Kieran Trippier (England), Jan Vertonghen (Belgium), Hugo Lloris (France), Harry Kane (England).
LIVERPOOL: Loris Karius; Nathaniel Clyne, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Andrew Robertson; James Milner, Naby Keita, Fabinho; Georginio Wijnaldum, Adam Lallana; Daniel Sturridge.
Wow. A slight lack of width and pace but what a team. And still there is no room for Alberto Moreno, Ragnar Klavan, Divock Origi, Danny Ings, Dominic Solanke or Joel Matip. That is one hell of a squad. Fourth place really is no longer enough.
Missing: Roberto Firmino (Brazil), Dejan Lovren (Croatia), Simon Mignolet (Belgium), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England), Sadio Mane (Senegal), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Jordan Henderson (England), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Alisson (Brazil).
CHELSEA: Bradley Collins; Davide Zappacosta, David Luiz, Kurt Zouma, Marcos Alonso; Jorginho, Cesc Fabregas, Tiemoue Bakayoko; Pedro, Ross Barkley; Alvaro Morata
With two World Cup keepers, three more out on loan and Matej Delac cruelly released after eight years of excellent service, step forward Bradley Collins, last seen on loan at Forest Green Rovers. The rest of the side looks pretty strong, and still England internationals Danny Drinkwater and Tammy Abraham cannot get a game.
Missing: Antonio Rudiger (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Willian (Brazil), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Victor Moses (Nigeria), Gary Cahill (England), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (England), Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain), Willy Caballero (Argentina), N’Golo Kante (France), Olivier Giroud (France).
ARSENAL: Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac; Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Aaron Ramsey, Matteo Guendouzi, Ainsley Maitland-Niles; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette.
Not bad at all. There is a bit of rawness in midfield, but if you can put together an XI and not resort to Carl Jenkinson, Calum Chambers or Chuba Akpom, then you have basically won at life. There is goals in that Arsenal team. And in the actual Arsenal team.
Missing: Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Nacho Monreal (Spain), Danny Welbeck (England), Granit Xhaka (Switzerland), David Ospina (Colombia), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Switzerland), Lucas Torreira (Uruguay).