As the Premier League edges toward the 2026-27 kickoff, the preseason picture has started to sharpen into something more than friendly results: it has become a quick diagnostic of who is building momentum, who is still searching for coherence, and how new ideas are taking root. In ESPN’s rundown of winners and losers from the early phase of preparations, the focus falls not only on form, but on what that form suggests about next season’s attacking and tactical direction.
Among the individual storylines, the clearest “winner” signal comes from Manchester City’s winger Callum Semenyo. ESPN describes him as a revelation last season, scoring 17 goals in 37 matches across appearances for Bournemouth and City, while also adding four assists. The preseason component, as framed by ESPN, is that his impact appears transferable: if his preseason form is any guide, Semenyo is expected to remain deeply involved in City’s attack next term. That matters because it suggests City have not merely found a temporary spark; rather, they appear to have a forward who can carry production across different phases of the season.
ESPN’s emphasis on Semenyo also underscores the broader “preseason winners” theme: results can be misleading, but when a player’s numbers and involvement pattern are consistent, they provide a more reliable forecast. A winger who combined goal-scoring with supporting contributions—four assists in ESPN’s account of his previous campaign—gives an elite squad a more versatile threat. In a league where creative output can be measured in tight margins, that type of production profile can quickly translate from preseason momentum to matchday confidence.
However, preseason success is rarely only about who performs; it is also about which tactical habits a team is ready to defend. Chelsea’s preparatory work, in particular, has been interpreted as a rolling transition rather than an instant replacement of the old order. According to The Athletic, new manager Xabi Alonso’s biggest tactical adjustment began to show late in Chelsea’s preseason tour to Australia and East Asia, with the caveat that it could take “a few weeks” before his first-choice formation and team structure fully take shape.
The Athletic’s reporting portrays Alonso’s experimentation as purposeful. In the tour’s final two games, he used a three-at-the-back shape that aligns with the system that served him well at Bayer Leverkusen, where that approach underpinned a successful period culminating in a Bundesliga title. The same source adds that Alonso used two No 10s positioned behind the striker, with wing-backs used to widen play. The implication is that Chelsea are not simply changing personnel or discipline—they are trying to embed a coherent system, one that requires players to buy into role clarity in both build-up and wide areas.
Sky Sports offered a more concrete look at how that plan might resemble match settings. In a report on Chelsea’s 3-1 preseason win over Real Sociedad, Sky Sports noted that Alonso deployed a back three for a third straight match. The article frames this as part of the early “clues” Alonso is offering about what Chelsea could employ ahead of their Premier League opener against Fulham. It also connects the tactical choices to Alonso’s track record: the 3-4-3 structure is described as replicating a system he used at Leverkusen when they won the Bundesliga in 2024.
There is also a development narrative embedded in the match detail. Sky Sports reported that Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix made their debuts as part of the same preseason continuity. While preseason results may not carry league points, debuts inside a recurring formation can matter: they indicate who Alonso is comfortable placing inside his evolving system, and they can accelerate learning for players who need time to adjust to new tactical expectations.
The broader league context reinforces why these signals are significant. The BBC, assessing the challenge facing Arsenal in the aftermath of the title-winning season, highlights that multiple contenders are entering the campaign with new managers. It notes that Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are all going into the campaign with fresh leadership, while Roberto De Zerbi and Michael Carrick are overseeing their first full seasons at Tottenham and Manchester United respectively after being appointed during last season. In that environment, preseason is often the first real test of whether managerial transition is producing immediate identity—or whether it is delaying cohesion until later in the schedule.
BBC reporting also points to the psychological and structural obstacles that make title defenses difficult. A champions’ players spend a whole campaign pushing toward a single goal, and when that goal is achieved, relief can arrive alongside a natural shift in motivation. Defending a title, the BBC suggests, is not only tactical—it is mental. That concept magnifies the importance of preseason groundwork: teams that can quickly rebuild intensity and purpose may start the league with less drift between “season-end release” and “next-season hunger.”
In that sense, the “winners and losers” framing becomes more nuanced than simply who looked sharp. City’s Semenyo appears positioned as a stable offensive engine, suggesting that a key attacking contributor will carry his influence forward into the 2026-27 campaign. Chelsea, by contrast, looks like a team still calibrating under Alonso—advancing, but not yet fully settled. And across the league, with several clubs operating under new managerial frameworks, the preseason may be less about being perfect and more about establishing a repeatable baseline: formation logic, role definitions, and who can execute them under pressure.
With the opening weeks approaching, the early signals from preseason will likely be confirmed—or corrected—by the league’s first sustained run of high-stakes matches. But as these reports collectively suggest, the most telling clues are not only the highlights on the pitch; they are the patterns: where goals come from, how formations repeat, and whether new structures can be implemented quickly enough to turn offseason preparation into league reality.
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