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The Premier League’s big return this weekend brings to mind the story of Chuck Cunningham. No, he’s not a flinty young American prospect snapped up on deadline day; he was Richie Cunningham’s older brother on US sitcom Happy Days. Chuck was a bit-part character played by three different actors – until one day, he said goodnight to the family, headed upstairs and simply never came back down again. His clumsy departure gave rise to “Chuck Cunningham Syndrome”, where characters change appearance, relocate or disappear altogether to leave viewers scratching their heads.
With 12 days having passed since the last match, a frenzied deadline day followed immediately by a memory-cleansing international break, viewers returning to the Premier League’s latest season might feel similarly confused. The top flight’s very own Fonz, Unai Emery, could startle casual watchers by naming Victor Lindelöf, Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho in his Aston Villa team to face Everton who – if you’re just tuning in – might be the new Aston Villa, built around the reanimated Jack Grealish. Even stranger, Emi Martínez is likely to be back in goal despite waving a tearful goodbye to Villa fans some 1,057 times in the last six months. Martínez stayed put even as Manchester United packed André Onana off to Trabzonspor, leaving Belgian newcomer Senne Lammens and Altay Bayindir playing rock, paper, scissors to avoid going in goal for Sunday’s Manchester derby.
