Being unbeaten at home for one of the smaller Premiership sides is something that should always be celebrated but at Birmingham City, things are never that simple. They have now equaled the clubs longest unbeaten home record of 18 games, it hides another story entirely. Now, 6 games in, the club have 7 points and sit mid-table but once again, the crowd was just over 2/3rds of the capacity.Fingers could be pointed towards the Wigan fans, not known for their travelling exploits yet that doesn’t cover it every other week.

City have had something of a stand off with the previous owners, when prices were kept at Premiership prices following relegation. A perceived lack of entertainment added to the fans frustration and despite a return to the top tier and the club being sold to Carson Yeung, attendances still leave the ground looking bare in certain areas. Despite the 18 game unbeaten home run, Birmingham have only won 2 of their last 12 Premiership matches.

Fans frustration can often be judged on what we call the George Graham formula. An often repeated mantra by fans who stop going is the lack of real football being played. This attitude is then criticised by others, who will often use George Graham’s period at Arsenal as proof of success over entertainment. The feeling is that if you win matches, then fans will come to see the team but as Birmingham City’s fans have proved over the last few seasons, it’s not necessarily true.

Of course, playing wide open attacking football gets the fans off their feet but it does leave you open to counter attacks. Against the better Premiership sides, this is akin to soccer suicide, offering the opportunity for the Chelsea’s and Manchester United’s to run riot. Crucially for promoted sides, keeping it tight, especially away from home can be all the difference. Yet, as Derby County showed under both Billy Davies and Paul Jewell, using those tactics doesn’t necessarily negate better sides.

After Liverpool had dismantled a Derby County side 6-0 who were playing what seemed to be a 5-5-0 formation, rather than the 4-5-1 it was supposed to be, fans were harsh towards the tactics. The feeling that by playing for a draw, they’d invited defeat left a bitter taste in the mouth. They were getting hammered and Davies kept to a tactical plan that clearly wasn’t working.

Birmingham yesterday entertained Wigan Athletic and played Cameron Jerome up front as a lone striker for an hour. I appreciate that using Hleb and Bowyer to bomb on as support helps but everyone seems to be playing 4-3-3 with just one striker and no wingers. Safety first at home against Wigan Athletic? Come on Alex Mcleish, show the fans some credit.

Birmingham City fans would be right in feeling that playing at home against anyone apart from the top 6, the side should at least show a little more attacking invention. No-one is expecting a side to go gung ho, but really, games like this are what keeps sides up in the Premiership, not what they achieve against the big clubs. The fans, as they did yesterday at St. Andrews, have a right to make their frustrations known.

If the fans begin to chant a formation or simply don’t bother turning up should tell you all you need to know. Alex Mcleish has been around football long enough to appreciate the fans concerns but yesteray had 3 strikers on the bench. For me, Birmingham’s best results in the last couple of seasons have been when they’ve gone with at least two strikers up front, rather than looking to negate the opposition.

The World Cup was full of sides playing a 4-3-3 system that employed wingers and strikers that could drop back when defending. Unfortunately, the new season has seen plenty of sides simply revert to a 4-5-1 and no option for width and balance. By replacing the attacking options with the safety first choice, the fans vote with their feet and their voices and no amount of unbeaten games will change that.

The frustration is born from playing so negatively against sides they consider at best, equals that they stop attending. When you’re only charging a top price of £34 for an adult ticket, cheap by comparison to some in the Premiership, you’d look to be selling out every home game. With almost 8,000 empty seats, that clearly isn’t the case. It may be value for money, but for some it certainly doesn’t represent entertainment value for the Birmingham fans.

Hugo Rodallega needs to score even more goals to keep Wigan up.

While Chelsea managed continue their 100% start to the season, and Sunderland shocked Manchester City, the performance of the weekend has to go Wigan Athletic who bounced back from a disastrous opening two games to record a surprise win at Tottenham. But will victory mark the start of the Latics season or will it be a rare high in a season of disappointment for Roberto Martinez’s men.

After their opening day capitulation against Blackpool followed by a 6-0 humbling at the hands of Chelsea many could have forgiven Martinez for ‘parking the bus’ at White Hart Lane, especially when you consider that they lost 9-1 in North London last year.

But typical of Martinez’s style he stuck to his principles and looked to take the game to the Champions League new-boys. The result was a solitary Hugo Rodallega strike that proved to be many a coupon buster on Saturday afternoon.

The worry for Wigan will be that they caught Tottenham on a good day. Redknapp ‘s side were undoubtedly suffering from a Champions League hangover which lead to them looking jaded and lacking creativity. On another day if Wigan went to Tottenham and tried to attack you would expect Spurs to run out easy winners.

Without meaning to disrespect Wigan, it could be their football which proves to be their downfall. While they managed to have a fairly successful season last year in terms of the fact they survived. You feel that the Premier League is stronger this year, and Wigan haven’t strengthened accordingly.

The unfortunate fact is that Wigan simply can’t afford to go down. Crowd’s have dwindled and would fall even further should the Latics fall in to the Championship. This coupled with the fall in revenue from that relegation inevitably brings could have real financial impacts on Wigan.

This makes the next couple of days crucial. Wigan must make sure they keep hold of Charles NZogbia, who although he didn’t start against Tottenham is their best attacking threat and somebody who can impact on a game. But in my opinion they need to strengthen as well. They desperately need a leader, and somebody who has the ability to help them grind out results. Because the worry is that their Martinez’s style won’t be able to bring enough points.

Personally I feel that the only way Wigan can survive is for Martinez to maybe scrap his method and be content with grinding out results.

Wigan Athletic has launched their new home jersey for the 2010-11 season. And they’ve done it again. Whenever you feel that soccer shirt designs are getting better across the league, you can always rely on Wigan Athletic to bring you back down to earth again with a shirt design that is abysmally poor.

Historically, Wigan has consistently produced some of the worst football shirt designs in the Premier League. Chairman Dave Whelan often seems willing to have his club experiment by giving the job to a shirt manufacturer who is not well known for producing quality soccer shirts. In the past, that has included Vandanel, Champion, JJB, Matchwinner, Eigreen, Hobott, JSW and New Balance. Arguably their last shirt that featured a decent design was the one created in 2000 when Adidas designed the shirt. Ten years is a long time in the football wastelands.

So, it’s no surprise that this season, Wigan has unveiled another interesting shirt manufacturer. It’s a company called MiFit. No, not Wii Fit, but MiFit. The shirt features the mid-blue color and also a white stripe that runs down the left side of the shirt. That stripe also runs down the shorts. The sleeves feature a gold trim, but the way they’re designed it looks like they’re an afterthought that were sewn on the shirt.

Good news or bad news for Wigan supporters. Mifit has a two year contract with the club, so you can expect to see them producing next season’s shirt, too. In the meantime, we look forward with great anticipation of what the away jersey for this upcoming season will look like.

What are your thoughts about the new shirt design? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

For the largest selection of Premier League shirts for all 20 clubs, visit the EPL Talk Shop.

There has been a lot to be thankful to ESPN for during their 2010 World Cup coverage this summer, but the most significant contribution – by far – has been the rise of Roberto Martinez in the role of ESPN studio commentator.

The Wigan Athletic manager is no stranger to soccer punditry. The Spaniard is often seen on Sky Sports television sharing his opinions to the UK audience. But in his role as an ESPN analyst has elevated his profile to a US audience, many of whom are not as familiar with his off-the-field skills.

There’s a refreshing quality about Martinez that makes him stand out so far from others. It’s a combination of the sheer delight he exudes sitting in the chair and talking about the sport he loves. Plus, he has an amiable personality that makes you want to listen to him. On top of all of that, and most importantly of all, he is the perfect pundit. He tells you how exactly what you need to know. He’s educated in the game and can explain tactics in a direct and easy to understand manner.

The best example for me was the half-time analysis by Martinez during the Greece against South Korea match. Martinez clinically described why Greece was having so much trouble in the first half getting into the game and then recommended what formation changes the Greek side needed to make. It was almost as if the Greek coach was listening to Martinez because moments before the second half whistle sounded, Greece made an important change and tried to change things up.

What has been most interesting to me is the ease of Martinez’s approach to punditry and how comfortable and knowledgeable he appears in his role. So much so that he has completely overshadowed fellow and more well known pundits such as Ruud Gullit and Alexi Lalas.

Martinez is a breath of fresh air and someone that US audiences can relate to. He’s well spoken. Even with his accent, he’s easy to understand and exudes confidence. This is a pundit I could listen to for hours. And for ESPN and ABC, that’s a wonderful asset.

Portsmouth

Relegation was the least of Portsmouth’s problems from the season, with the on going off-the-pitch saga of the sheer volumes of money owed to the tax man.  This highlights that Football is not an exception to the global financial crises we are currently in.  Back on the pitch the poor start to the season, (not winning their first league game until end of October against Wigan) continued throughout the campaign winning 7 games all season.  Yet by the unpredictability of the FA Cup reached the Final and had Kevin Prince-Boateng scored the 54^th minute penalty, things could have been very different.

Grade: F-

Teacher’s Pet:  Avram Grant for taking on the challenge and winning the hearts of the Pompey fans facing such adversity.  On the pitch, that distinction goes to Jamie O’Hara, who has showed real quality in his loan spell.

Detention: The board for the financial mess Portsmouth are in.

Stoke City

No second season syndrome for The Potters, top of the bottom half the Premier League, never in any real threat of regulation and have shown that they are a settled and well organised team to cope with the best of England has to throw at them.  Lack of goals up from Fuller, Kitson, Beattie and Tuncay suggested that if Stoke want to go to the next level they will need to find a goalscorer.

Grade: C-

Teacher’s pet: Matthew Etherington has rediscovered the form that he had for a few years with West Ham United, even got mentioned in the media of England honours, but realistically that was never on the horizon.

Detention: James Beattie for his spat with Tony Pulis in the middle of the season.

Sunderland

Despite a period of 11 league games without a win from mid November to early March – with the goal machine that is Darren Bent – Sunderland always had enough in the locker to survive.  On paper they have a productive strike force with Kenwin Jones and Frazier Campbell to boot, who scored key end of season goals for the Black Cats. Next term one would expect to see a better performing Sunderland team especially if Lee Cattermole stays fit and away from disciplinary problems.

Grade: D-

Teacher’s pet: Darren Bent – 24 league goals in a struggling side, fait accompli.

Detention: Kieran Richardson – a player with plenty of talent who has had a below par season.

Tottenham Hotspur

After going so close in 2005/06 Spurs finally make the potentially lucrative position of 4^th spot in the Champions League.  All-round they have a strong squad, with many attacking flair players including Modric, Lennon, Kranjcar and Bale; they still have some cracks to fill defensively, with King and Woodgate re their fitness and Bale requiring more experience to play at left-back.  Let’s put things into perspective: it’s still only a playoff and not qualification but fully deserved for a fantastic season.

Grade: B

Teacher’s pet: Tom Huddlestone – the ever-present in the centre of midfield and fully deserved his place in the England 30-man squad.

Detention: Jermaine Jenas – was at one stage a stand-in captain and England international who now struggles to make the first eleven.

West Ham

Survived in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth.  Another football team with financial difficulties but this time with very outspoken Chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan, Sullivan has stated that everyone is for sale except Scott Parker, clearly emphasising they need to sell before funds are available to spend on new players.  They are in the market for a new manager and current favourite appears to be Avram Grant, which would a good move for West Ham, a manager with good experience of managing in the Premier League something that despite all of his charisma and friendliness Zola didn’t posses.

Grade: F

Teacher’s pet: Scott Parker – the fans favourite: week in week out gives 100%, and fittingly scored the winner against Wigan to secure survival to round off an excellent end of the season for him.

Detention: Kieran Dyer – still struggling to get to fully fit, and has only played 4 league games this season.

Wigan

Closing the leaky pipe defence will be the No. 1 priority for Wigan, they conceded 79 league goals – only Burnley and Hull shipped more.  Key victories at home to Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal saved Wigan’s season.  On the plus note, they do have a couple of match winners in Hugo Rodallega and Charles N’Zogbia (when N’Zogbia feels in the mood that is!!).

Grade: E-

Teacher’s pet – Hugo Rodallega – Score goals in a struggling side, all in his first season in the Premier League.

Detention – the defence for conceding so many goals.

Wolves

There was only one priority for Mick McCarthy’s men and that was finishing 17^th or above.  He was heavily criticised for playing an under strength 11 at Old Trafford in December before a massive six pointer against Burnley.  It proved to be the correct decision – they won 2-0 and finished 8 points above the drop zone.

Grade: D

Teacher’s pet: Kevin Doyle – a work ethic and goal threat throughout the whole season where he often played up-front on his own. An excellent signing by Mick McCarthy

Detention – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake – hasn’t scored the goals in the Premier League and looks out of his depth at the highest level.

Incredulous. This is the emotion Arsene Wenger must be feeling after seeing his team go from being two goals up to a Wigan side battling for survival at the bottom of the Premier League, to losing the game three goals to two. I don’t believe that Wigan pulled off this comeback because they are the stronger side, because they aren’t. I don’t believe Wigan was able to upset the odds today because of their manager Roberto Martinez, and I don’t believe Wigan’s win had anything to do with a lucky break. I believe Arsenal’s loss can be saddled on the shoulders of Arsenal’s own deficiencies, rather than the positive attributes of the Wigan team who beat them.

First, it must be said, kudos to Wigan for being able to pull that off. They kept determined and focused even though to anyone else that game was out of their reach after Silvestre hit the back of the net after some poor marking from a corner kick. Congratulations to Roberto Martinez, for almost certainly keeping Wigan afloat this term. And good on Victor Moses, who was an inspiring substitution.

Now, onto Arsenal. After their midweek loss to Tottenham, it might have been expected that some feeling of disappointment and frustration would be felt by the Arsenal squad, because that loss to their rivals looked to almost certainly extinguish their title challenge for this season, and keep their trophy-less run going. But for them not to want to bounce back, for their fans, and for their own pride, shows a real issue of poor leadership within the squad. The only player in the Tottenham game who seemed to really want it, who seemed more than any other Arsenal player on the pitch to really want to win, was the veteran Sol Campbell. Who, on his performance at the Lane, will probably earn himself another year at the club. It’s been seen before from Arsenal that they have lacked a real leader since the departure of Patrick Vieira. It was most obvious when Gallas, now ex-captain, broke down a couple of seasons back at Birmingham, and then spoke to the press about a disruptive character in the dressing room. For that, he was stripped of the armband, and it was handed to the young, but exceptionally talented, Cesc Fabregas.

When one looks back on Arsenal captains and Arsenal players of past generations, we see real fighters, real hard men who were always willing to go the extra mile for their team. Arsenal’s squad was full of players like this. There was Tony Adams, who was also given the armband at a young age, but he had a never-say-never attitude and a real fighting spirit. The players who surrounded him were similar. Martin Keown, Emmanuel Petit, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, and not to mention Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn. These players really played for Arsenal, week in, week out. Best exemplified in the unbeaten run they displayed, a 49-game unbeaten run that is a feat that most probably will never be bested. These were players that refused to lose.

But I digress. In today’s lineup, changes were made to maybe freshen the squad up and rotate a few players after poor performances at the Lane. Not to mention, obviously, the injury crisis, that has claimed Thomas Vermaelen, William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin, Alex Song, and so on. But what was really missing was the will to succeed. Even with some of those players, Arsenal showed complacency quite like this at West Ham this season, and at Sunderland where they lost a goal to nil. There are too few players in the Arsenal squad who would fight to the end for their club. It seems strange, since most of Arsenal’s squad have come through the ranks there; players like Nicklas Bendtner, Abou Diaby, Gael Clichy, Theo Walcott, and so on. None of them showed the attitude that was needed to hold that game, or to kill it off. Complacency crept in and a hard-working Wigan side were able to triumph over an Arsenal team that should not be allowing things like this to happen.

Arsene Wenger always comes out after victories in the press and speaks about Arsenal’s attitude, Arsenal’s determination, and Arsenal’s spirit. After coming back from two goals down against Barcelona, one could understand where he was coming from. But as soon as there are a few key players missing, most notably Alex Song, who has improved leaps and bounds, and Cesc Fabregas, the cover for those two players is completely inadequate. While players like Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky may have all the tricks and pace and technique to beat their man and score goals, they lack the mental attributes of players like Alex Song and Cesc Fabregas, not to mention Robin van Persie, who always performs admirably. It’s the lack of players like those that broke Arsenal today. And it’s a shame, because with all the talent they have, with all the potential they show every year, they never quite get there. Leadership must be a trait spread throughout the squad, and maybe the squad itself must be changed before Arsenal can reach silverware. There are too many players who look like they just don’t deserve their wages. A goalkeeper, a center-half, a midfielder or two, and a striker. All places where Arsenal need reinforcement. That’s every position on the pitch. That’s a bad sign. Arsene Wenger must go for experience, because while it is admirable that he brings players through, players more recently like Craig Eastmond and Fran Merida, these, and quite a few others, aren’t players who are mentally capable – though very likely technically capable – of taking a competition by force and running it to the finish line.

Congratulations to Wigan, but Arsenal have to look at themselves and return the faith Arsene Wenger has invested in them, or changes must be made.

It’s an unbelievable weekend in the Premier League. Manchester United grab an injury winner against City to keep them in the race. Tottenham Hotspur deservedly beat Chelsea and opened the Premier League title race wide open. And then on Sunday, everyone expected Arsenal to win the match against Wigan — especially after the Gunners were leading 2-0 — to close the gap at the top.

But Wigan pulled back three late goals including one by Charles N’Zogbia in injury time to end Arsenal’s Premier League title race. Unbelievable.

There’ll be more insight and articles into Arsenal’s loss, but feel free to share your comments and vent here in the meantime. What a weekend in the Premier League, eh?

14 games without a Premiership win would be worrying for several sides, but when you’ve spent the best part of £50 million to improve the team, 4 months without a win is disastrous. When Bruce took the reigns at the Stadium of Light in the summer, the club had survived a dreadful season which had seen Roy Keane walk out half way through and they limped to the final day staying up.

If you were brutally honest, Sunderland stayed up due to the ineptness of the other clubs at the foot of the table. For the amount of transfer outlay the Black Cats have spent, around £130 million in 3 years, two successive relegation battles are simply not good enough. For all the criticism that came last season, Bruce’s tenure started so well and Sunderland were comfortably placed in the top ten.

Yet since November, it’s all gone horribly wrong and Sunderland have slid down the table once more. Free scoring twitter addict Darren Bent has suddenly found goals hard to come by in open play and the side seems gripped with a fear of losing. As daft as it sounds, it’s a common occurrence for sides struggling to win to try and close up defensively, which in turn invites teams to attack them. The fear of having a go back leads to a footballing paralysis, the team simply forgets how to win.

Bruce has certainly got his work out at probably his biggest managerial role so far. Up until November, Bruce could honestly be pleased with the sides progress and they seemed to playing a good, high tempo attacking game. Beating Arsenal had seen them continue to re-affirm their ambitions of an outside chance of European football, but suddenly the confidence evaporated.

Bruce was in bullish mood earlier this week, coming out and defending his signings and perhaps he would point to Kenwyn Jones having his head turned by Liverpool’s underhand transfer methods in January, and the loss of Lee Catermole has certainly shown just how important he is to the Sunderland side.  Yet, two signings do not make a team and several players simply have not performed not just for Bruce but over the last couple of years.

What has happened to Keiran Richardson? He seems to have completely lost his way again after picking up last season, so much potential and promise seems to be shackled with a fear to work hard and show the talent he has. Michael Turner has struggled to justify his £10 million transfer fee (as quoted in the court documents in the Hull City v Paul Duffen case). Anton Ferdinand has looked like he’d walk back to London if he could get a transfer, but he at least made me smile with this peach of a quote this week.

“It would be naive to say that we’re not in a relegation scrap. The league is so tight that a couple of results either way can make a massive amount of difference. No one is mentioning the R word around here, and we don’t want to start having to talk about it.” Priceless.

Of course, the bottom of the table is so tight at the moment, anyone from West Ham, in 13th could go down right now. 4 points separate 7 clubs and Sunderland’s goal difference is a real bonus despite the situation they are in. Unfortunately, they’ve a dreadful run of fixtures after Tuesday’s clash with Bolton. Only one of the next 6 games is against a side in the bottom half of the table and that could be crucial. It is not a run of games to take such a dreadful run of form into.

Yet, it could be what they need. Gaining three points in any of those matches would be a massive boost for Bruce and the club, giving them a much needed shot in the arm. No-one wants to say they’re too good to go down, we’ve seen it from sides such as West Ham United and Newcastle before. Now Bruce has to prove his reputation and really earn his stripes at the Stadium of Light.

If you can’t beat them, buy them. That has often been Manchester United’s strategy when the club has lost pivotal league games against smaller English clubs and/or have been embarrassed by Premier League players who display incredible raw skill. United has often gone on to purchase many of those footballers.

Examples include Everton (Wayne Rooney), Fulham (Louis Saha – after he scored against United and later joined them, and Edwin van der Sar), Tottenham (Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick) and Wigan (Antonio Valencia). It’s a smart transfer strategy because you make sure the smaller clubs will never break into the Big Four. But it also prevents those players being bought by rival clubs, and makes sure that those players won’t embarrass United again.

Based on his display during Saturday’s early kick off between Everton and Manchester United, don’t be surprised if Manchester United takes another close look at Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell with the hopes of signing him this summer. Sir Alex Ferguson was reported to be interested in signing Rodwell last year, but based on his confidence and composure on the ball today when he scored the third and final goal for Everton to beat Manchester United, Ferguson will surely be even more interested now. Sure, Rodwell only had a limited amount of playing time Saturday after coming off the bench, but the way he took his goal gives you a clear indication of the skill he has.

It’s not just the way that Manchester United plucks raw talent to make sure they stay near the top of the Premier League. It’s what they do to these players after they join. It’s incredible to consider how Wayne Rooney has taken his raw talent when he was at Everton, as well as his violent temper, and turned it into a controlled and magic ability to beat the best players and teams in the world. The same can be said for many players who have moved from smaller English clubs and moved to United.

But it’s not just Manchester United who will be on alert regarding Rodwell’s talent. Rodwell is a versatile player who has also been touted as a center back in the making, and which top teams in the Premier League would pass up a player like that who possesses the ability to score up front, command midfield and has the potential to do a brilliant job in the back? In fact, Rodwell has been called the new Rio Ferdinand.

Don’t be surprised if Manchester City or Arsenal try to capture the signing of Rodwell from under the noses of Manchester United. Whoever gets him, expect Everton to get a hefty transfer fee as much as 20-30 million pounds for the player who joined the Toffees when he was a child.

This is a player who has already broken many records including being the youngest ever Everton player to play in European competition and the youngest Everton scorer in European competition. Plus he has an encouraging England career ahead of him after an impressive display for the under-21 England team in the 2009 European Championships.

Photo credit: BackpageFootball.

While The Pharaohs secure passage into the quarter-finals in Angola attempting to defend their African crown, one of their brightest sons is making a highly anticipated return to Old Blighty after a somewhat maligned exit. This time around, Amr Zaki will attempt his goal scoring prowess a few hours down the M62 from Wigan towards the North Sea and end up with relegation-fighting Hull City Football Club on a five month loan deal. For the next few weeks, he’ll only be able to watch his countrymen from an ‘iffy internet stream face Africa’s best a continent away.

Zamalek teammate and former Premier League player Mido was also unexpectedly left out of the 23-man squad whose only hope for a trophy this year will be to defend the African Cup of Nations as Egypt missed out on World Cup qualification yet again (the Pharaohs haven’t participated since 1990). A lack of match fitness has been cited as reason for Zaki’s exclusion in the squad.

As for Zaki’s exit from Wigan, the Egyptian was on record last summer criticizing Wigan for not accepting a payoff from then suitors Aston Villa. The payoff would have allowed Zaki the freedom to sign for Martin O’Neill thus scrapping his original loan deal from Zamalek. Zaki had a falling out with then Wigan gaffer Steve Bruce after multiple fines from returning late to the Latics from international duty. Bruce was famously quoted as labeling Zaki as the most unprofessional player he has ever managed.

As for Zaki’s return, most will remember his blazing start to last season scoring 11 goals in his first 18 appearances before his form eventually took a nose dive. Zaki has vowed to stay out of trouble to the accepting ears of Hull City chairman Adam Pearson. The reported fee Hull City splashed for the Egyptian striker ranges from “a significant loan fee” to “£400,000″ in hopes Zaki will help the Tigers fight the drop.

Amr Zaki on good form and with a good attitude will be an asset for Hull City. He’s a strong, proven goal scorer with a natural instinct to know where he’s at when he receives the ball. He’s got a perfect body build to compete with equally strong Premier League centre-backs. He’s a player that has the skill and ability to have a future in the Premier League. As an admirer of his goals from last term, here’s hoping he continues to make good on his potential this time around. If I haven’t convinced you yet, make sure to check out a few of his best from his Wigan days.

Also, what does this mean for on-loan American striker Jozy Altidore? Will he continue to receive vital playing time for Hull City in hopes he’ll come good on his potential? Or, has Altidore’s spot been claimed by the proven Premier League goal scorer Zaki?

Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on Zaki’s return to the Premier League.