Rise of a Football God

(Premier league:)

(Matchday 14:)

(Fulham 3-1 Brighton)

(Date: 5th December, 2024)

…

(Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham)
Enjoy new chapters from empire

(Date: 5th December, 2024)

…

(Updated premier league table standings:)

(1. Fulham GP: 14/ W:12/ D:1/ L:1/ Pts: 38)

(2. Liverpool GP: 14/ W:11/ D:2/ L:1/ Pts: 36)

(3. Arsenal GP: 14/ W:8/ D:4/ L:2/ Pts: 28)

(4. Chelsea GP: 14/ W:8/ D:4/ L:2/ Pts: 28)

(5. Man City GP: 14/ W:7/ D:3/ L:4/ Pts: 24)

(6. Brighton GP: 14/ W:6/ D:5/ L:3/ Pts: 23)

(7. Nottm Forest GP: 14/ W:6/ D:4/ L:4/ Pts: 22)

(8. Aston Villa GP: 14/ W:6/ D:3/ L:6/ Pts: 21)

(9. Bournemouth GP: 14/ W:6/ D:3/ L:5/ Pts: 21)

(10. Brentford GP: 14/ W:6/ D:2/ L:6/ Pts: 20)

(11. Newcastle GP: 14/ W:5/ D:5/ L:4/ Pts: 20)

(12. Tottenham GP: 14/ W:6/ D:1/ L:7/ Pts: 19)

(13. Man United GP: 14/ W:4/ D:4/ L:6/ Pts: 16)

(14. West Ham GP: 14/ W:4/ D:3/ L:7/ Pts: 15)

(15. Leicester GP: 14/ W:3/ D:4/ L:7/ Pts: 13)

(16. Everton GP: 14/ W:3/ D:4/ L:7/ Pts: 13)

(17. Crystal Palace GP: 14/ W:2/ D:6/ L:6/ Pts: 12)

(18. Ipswich Town GP: 14/ W:1/ D:6/ L:7/ Pts: 9)

(19. Wolves GP: 14/ W:1/ D:3/ L:10/ Pts: 6)

(20. Southampton GP: 14/ W:1/ D:1/ L:10/ Pts: 4)

After matchday 14 of the English premier league in the 2024/2025 season, this was how the premier league table looked like.

14 games in, there were still mind-blowing placements that regular fans of the premier league simply could not fathom.

The shocking one was still the fact that 14 points in, Fulham was still leading at the top of the premier league table and not just that, they were now 2 points clear of Liverpool who was their closest challenger.

Another shocking fact was the fact that after 14 games, Man City, the reigning premier league champions were now 14 points off the top of the table.

At the beginning of the season, no one saw this coming.

Was Manchester City out of the premier league title race?

What is wrong with the champion team?

Was Rodri really that good that without them, the champions are now playing like a mid-table team?

Questions like this kept on flying around as different speculations boiled, even those of sack revolved around Pep Guardiola and his team.

Another news in the new season was Chelsea FC. After a few seasons of some pretty damaging lows, the pride of London seemed to have found their mojo again as they were now in the top four spot in the premier league table.

And these days, they were truly hard to beat.

Led by the King, Cole Palmer, and with help from capable Generals in the form of Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and the likes, Chelsea was playing like a team that may go on and challenge for the title.

Despite the damaging defeat to the high-flying team, Fulham in the last game, Brighton were still 6th position in the premier league table.

Another shock was Tottenham. Last season, after 6 matchdays of flawless football from the North London club, Tottenham led the premier league table at the top for some time as their fans raved that they would win the title.

Come season end, of course they didn't win but still, Tottenham was touted as a powerhouse under the offensive tutelage of Ange Postecoglou.

These days though, you could hardly see a compliment come out of the mouth of Tottenham fans regarding their coach, only offensive comments and talk of sack and Ange Postecoglou out these days.

The situation around the Tottenham coach perfectly depicted the ever-changing nature of football.

Today, you could be on top of the world with millions of fans supporting you around the world and tomorrow, after a few bad performances, be rest assured that all of them would turn on you.

This was the pressure on elite footballers plying their trade in the top 5 European leagues to continue performing.

Apart from Fulham, the greatest shock and reality check to a certain fanbase in this new premier league season had to be that of Manchester United.

After 14 matchdays of the new premier league season, Manchester United were trailing at 13th position with 19 points gotten in 14 games.

And currently, the once biggest club in England was now going through a period of transition as after another furious protest by their fans, Erik Ten Haag was finally sacked from his position as the head coach of the English club.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy, a Manchester United legend who served under Erik Ten Haag served as the interim coach for a while and now, Manchester United finally employed a new head coach in Ruben Amorim.

After the exploits that this coach had with his team, Sporting CP in Portugal, leading them on a generational run, he was finally introduced to the rigor of the English premier league to test his mettle.

The Manchester United fans could only be hopeful.

…

After the game, Sam met up with Emile Smith Rowe as they visited a familiar African food restaurant where they ate and conversed.

They talked about a lot of things, mostly about football, and then they talked about the pressure of being the team at the top of the premier league table.

A title race, especially in a team as prominent and competitive as the English premier league was no easy endeavor.

Sam may not show it, but he felt the pressure, the need to keep on giving his best and perform in every single game.

In today's game against Brighton, he played an amazing game still but he finally met one of those games where he could not get his name on the scoresheet neither did he register an assist.

Despite this though, Fulham didn't fumble as Alex Iwobi stepped up on his absence, delivering the goods.

'I'm glad it happened like this'. Sam thought, smiling.

'I can't always perform at my best every time, knowing that I have teammates who got my back in difficult times is reassuring'.

'It relieves the pressure a bit, so I can reset and refocus'. His eyes gleamed.

Sam set his sights on the future, on maintaining his team's momentous run.