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Sky Sports' David Jones on the new Premier League season and the return of fans
Virgin Radio
12 Aug 2021, 09:39
David Jones from Sky Sports. Credit: Getty Images
The Sky Sports presenter joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to talk about the start of the new Premier League season, and what lies ahead for Harry Kane and Jack Grealish. He also spoke about the prospect of full stadiums, and the excitement surrounding the Women’s Super League.
David is part of the presentation team for Sky Sports, which will cover 128 exclusively live Premier League matches for the new season. He told Gaby Roslin and Sam Pinkham, who are in for Chris, “I think there’s more excitement this summer in the build-up to this football season than there has been for as long as I can remember really, because we’ve got the fans back and it feels like we are getting back to some kind of normality.
“We sort of ploughed through the tough times with football. Everything else stopped but football found a way to carry on, and I suppose it’s a bit like musicians performing without a crowd, you know? And now footballers are going to have their audience back, or have the soundtrack to our beautiful game restored, and all the passion, and the glory, and the pain that comes with it, and we’ll be broadcasting it all to you.”
The Sky Sports punditry team includes Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Jamie Redknapp, Graeme Souness, Micah Richards and Roy Keane. Kelly Cates will be hosting Friday Night Football and Saturday Night Football, while David fronts Super Sunday and Monday Night Football.
One big fixture this weekend is Tottenham against champions Manchester City, which is live on Sunday afternoon. When Gaby asked David where Harry Kane will be playing this season, given the ongoing speculation regarding a potential transfer from Spurs to Manchester City, David said, “We think that Harry, right now, is at the Spurs training ground, or in the vicinity of it, and his new manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, has said that anybody who has trained this week is available to play on Sunday.
“There are those that feel that maybe, once this fixture is out of the way, that storyline might develop a little bit more, because there is no way in the world that Spurs were going to sell Harry Kane to Manchester City, given that they were playing them in the first game of the season.”
Meanwhile, on whether Jack Grealish will fit into Manchester City’s style of play, David said, “Generally, Pep Guardiola gets the big transfers right, and it’s a lot of money for it to be considered a gamble. I think there is a certainly that he will go there and perform. The question for us is really what position that’s going to be in. Is he going to play as a winger? Is he going to play as a midfield player? Could he play as a false forward, a false nine?
“I think the one thing about Manchester City is they are the very best when it comes to moving the ball, playing football, carrying it forward quickly, and Jack Grealish is good at all of those things, and so you would think he would fit in seamlessly.
“I know Villa fans are distraught about the transfer, but it seems like a fair price really, and they’ve spent the money very well to try and replace him.”
As well as showing the Premier League, Sky Sports will also bring fans action from the EFL, Scottish Premiership and the Women’s Super League. Regarding the WSL, David said, “That’s one of the main things we are really excited about, I have to say, at the start of this season, because now we are, at Sky, the home of the WSL. I think we feel that, given a bit more of a push, given a bit more of a stage, we can only see a huge step forward again for the women’s game.
“We’ve got the Euros here next summer. I think it will be amazing to have a brilliant WSL season to kick us into that, and hopefully bring real success back to the women’s team as well. And I think that could act as a springboard, moving forwards again. So I think this is a really exciting time for women’s football and the WSL.”
Going back to talking about the Premier League ahead of the first game of the season, which sees newly-promoted Brentford play Arsenal tomorrow night (13th August) on Sky Sports, David said he was looking forward to seeing how Brentford get on in the top flight. “This is their first season in the top division for 74 years, it’s the first time they’ve ever played in the Premier League. It was only a couple of years ago that they were almost going out of business,” he explained.
“They are a very progressive football club, on and off the pitch, I would say. They love to play attractive football.
“I think it’s going to be really interesting watching them this time round. A lot of people always write off the teams that have been promoted, but I think Brentford will be quietly confident that they will have a successful season. By successful I mean without getting dragged into the relegation picture.”
Sky Sports Football will show 128 Premier League games and action from the EFL, Scottish Premiership and Women’s Super League this season.
For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.
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