A recent report has suggested that the arrival of the 'mega managers' this season has improved the standard and abilityof the top sides in the Premier League.
Over the summer, the emergence of thelikes of Antonio Conte and Pep Guardiola, as well as the return of Jose Mourinho, has left the top flight of English football with some of the most talented managerial newcomers throughout the so-called major leagues.
Add this bunch to the likes of Arsene Wenger, Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp, and you'd have to go very far to find a better group of footballing philosophers and thinkers, and according to that report, this influx of new faces has had anunbelievably positive impact on the performances of the top sides in the division.
In terms of points per game, Manchester City (1.74 to 2.18), Chelsea (1.32 to 2.27), Arsenal (1.87 to 2.18), Liverpool (1.58 to 2.36)and Tottenham Hotspur (1.84 to 1.91)have all improved from their respective positions last season.
It looks like Antonio Conte's change in formation is working for Chelsea 👀 pic.twitter.com/SlBRKazvPi
The same can be said for average goals per game - City (1.87 to 2.27), Chelsea (1.55 to 2.36), Arsenal (1.71 to 2.18)and Liverpool (1.66 to 2.73) - with the top teams in the league all recording huge wins at this early stage of the season, even against each other.
It seems that the league is now re-developing a dominant group of five or six teams that are steamrolling their way through their fixtures. Butwhat makes these statistics even more incredible is that this is happening in spite of the 'smaller' teams closing the financial gap following the £8bn TV rights deal at the start of the season.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool are on 🔥 this season”and the Reds are in better shape at this point of the season than the runners-up of 2013/14 pic.twitter.com/XvhPvd9IOq
When people spoke of the impact that these managers would have on the division, they weren't kidding around.