The most refreshing aspect of this season so far has been the way that the three promoted clubs – Norwich City, Bournemouth and Watford – have attacked the Premier League. There has been no fear.
It is the same with Leicester City, who scraped to safety at the end of the last campaign, but have been in championship (ie. title-winning) form not Championship form ever since. They are not afraid of anyone or any score-line it seems – having retrieved a 2-0 deficit in their last two games to win points.
All four teams have one thing in common: they are packed with players – admittedly to a lesser extent with Watford – who have come up through the divisions. Players who have been overlooked by bigger clubs – clubs who appear obsessed by bringing in either foreign imports or poaching players from each other.
There is a lack of trust from the more established Premier League clubs to actually look down through the divisions and buy players from the Championship, from League One – even from League Two. And even when they do that they often farm those players out on loan.
An honourable exception has been Dele Alli at Tottenham Hotspur who was acquired from MK Dons and is impressing so much that he is already being tipped for the England squad for Euro 2016. But that is a rarity.
Take a glance at the top-scorers so far in the Premier League – at the top is Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, then it is Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson, then Bafetimbi Gomis from Swansea City – the club that has been the trailblazer in this trend – tied with Watford’s Odion Ighalo and Leicester’s Jamie Vardy.
Bournemouth have played some scintillating football – with Matt Ritchie having scored the goal of the season so far in last Saturday’s 2-0 win against Sunderland – while both Watford and Norwich have attacked their opponents just as Leicester have done so.
Clubs who gained promotion to the Premier League used to be in the business of damage-limitation – or wasting millions in the transfer market to try and stay there by bringing in expensive signings. Now they come at the other clubs and take them on with positive football and players with points to prove.
Those clubs have taken advantage of how lazy Premier League clubs have become in their own recruitment – and how afraid they are that their fans might react badly if they buy from Leyton Orient rather than Lens or from Preston rather than Porto.
Look at the woeful recruitment of the likes of Sunderland and Newcastle United who have packed their clubs with foreign imports, often journeyman in search of a pay-day, or a quick move elsewhere, rather than players who are hungry to succeed at the club.
There is a balance to be struck. The best foreign players obviously richly enhance the league and raise the standard and that must always continue. But clubs need to be braver in trusting local talent and identifying players who can make the step up.
Leicester host Arsenal on Saturday and no-one would be surprised if they won. Bournemouth are away at Stoke and – again – it would be no shock if they took a point or three while on Sunday Watford will play Crystal Palace, another club that has set this trend, with a similar expectation. It is an indictment of the bigger clubs and the way they operate.
