Sport: Arsenal, the Unravelling

So, the Gunners now have a win under their belts, and the seemingly disastrous transfer window now shows some glimmers of hope, with help form la Liga (and the Spanish economy).

Hooray.

Forgive this writer for not jumping and cheering. Underneth the sighs of relief, there is that feeling of "same crap, different season"

Another opening day. Another loss. Comprehensively beaten 4-3 by a marauding Liverpool side that included a familiar bane to Gunners in the form of Sadio Mane. Then on to a drab, scoreless stalemate at Champions Leceister City that might well have had a different result had a penalty been awarded for Bellerin's "professional" foul late in the game.

The truth is, Arsenal, for its seeming upswing, in in the throes of a long unravelling that is especially painful for fans. Season after season, the team underachieves, losing games that it ought to win, and i n some cases embarrassingly so.

And things are about to get worse. Old Wenger nemesis Jose Mourinho has taken the reins at Manchester united, while his bitter rival Pep Guardiola (who some had as a potential Wenger successor) is settling in for the sheiks at Manchester City. a massive Manchester Derby looms in about two weeks. Italian maestro Antonio Conte is leading a revitalized Chelsea squad untethered from the toxic relationship with Mourinho that torpedoed their title defense last season.

And Arsenal? Still plodding along with a manager stuck in the past, and propped up by a Board too busy milking the cash cow that the club has become.

Has Wenger been great for Arsenal? Without doubt. And the club has clearly benefitted form his tenure, both i n the footballing and the financial sense.

But Wenger has been making a string of inexcusable tactical errors ove the past few seasons. The most egregious being against Liverpool i nthe season past; Wenger, with a 3-2 lead and minutes left to play, he inserts Arteta into a game that we ought o have taken full points form; Arteta almost immediately gets caught out, allowing Joe Allen to run on to the loose ball and slot past a helpless Cech. And the less said about the Champions league tie against Barcelona, the better.

its easy to call for a manager's head i n the Premier League; money's being sprayed left right and centre like water treatment on a grass pitch, but it should be clear to even the most hardened loyalists that the end of the Wenger era is at hand.

to the Board: do it now, when there's less pain and there can - unlike the departure of Pellegrini at City - be some dignity; a proper farewell.

let's not let the team disintegrate before we do something

Sports: the EPL about to kickoff

The 2016-17 Premier League season is nearly upon us. Lots has happened already this summer, so our ESPN FC bloggers take a look at how their teams will fare in the coming campaign.

REIGNING CHAMPIONS & TITLE CHALLENGERS

LEICESTER: Leicester City are the defending Premier League champions. And that sentence still takes some getting used to. Now, they're the team to beat and Claudio Ranieri's men must balance a title defence with Champions League football. >>Read -- Ben Jacobs

ARSENAL: An injury crisis, frustration in the transfer market and Arsenal haven't even played a match yet. Do you ever get the feeling you know exactly what's coming? >> Read -- Tom Adams

MAN CITY: Pep Guardiola's Manchester City mission involves improving the club's performances in Europe as well as winning back the Premier League title. Widely regarded as the best manager on the planet, the Catalan will enter the campaign under plenty of pressure. >> Read -- Simon Curtis

MAN UNITED: It's sure to be lively in Manchester this season, with Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic going up against their nemesis, Pep Guardiola. Can Mourinho restore United to their former glories? >> Read -- Scott Patterson

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHASERS

CHELSEA: Another season, another high-flying manager in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat trying to satisfy Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's unquenchable thirst for silverware. >> Read -- Mark Worrall

LIVERPOOL: With no European football at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp has fewer distractions this season. Improvement must be measured by the Reds' league points total after two seasons of inadvertent focus on cup competitions. >> Read -- Steven Kelly

TOTTENHAM:It's the final campaign at White Hart Lane and with Champions League football on the agenda, boss Mauricio Pochettino will have to balance matters in Europe with his side's exploits in the Premier League. >> Read -- Ben Pearce

RACE FOR EUROPE

STOKE: Mark Hughes has established the Potters as a strong Premier League side -- now the hunt is on for European football. Read >> --James Whittaker

SOUTHAMPTON: With Ronald Koeman, Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane gone, it has been another difficult summer for Saints. Read >> -- Alex Crook

WEST HAM: The Hammers have signed Andre Ayew but could still be too reliant on Andy Carroll. Read >> -- Peter Thorne

MIDTABLE FINISHERS

EVERTON: Ronald Koeman's era at Everton will get underway at home to Tottenham. Koeman left Southampton to move to Goodison Park earlier this summer, with fans expecting a much better campaign than 2015-16. Read >> -- Luke O'Farrell

SWANSEA: Garry Monk lost his job at Swansea as the club flirted with relegation last season so what lies in store this time around? Francesco Guidolin steered the club to safety and will now look to avoid another scrape for survival. Read >> -- Max Hicks

WATFORD: Walter Mazzarri is the new man in charge at Vicarage Road and will be expected to consolidate his side's top flight status. Read >> -- Michael Moruzzi

WEST BROM: With Tony Pulis still at the helm, West Brom look set for another season of dull, percentage football that will in all likelihood keep them in the Premier League. >> Read -- Matthew Evans

RELEGATION CANDIDATES

BOURNEMOUTH: Bournemouth's first appearance in the Premier League ended well, with the club finishing a respectable 16th in the table in 2015-16. The key now is to build on that. Read >> -- Will Kent

BURNLEY: Burnley are back. Sean Dyche masterminded a quick return to the Premier League after relegation in 2014-15, but the Championship winners do not look equipped for Premier League survival without major investment. Read >> -- Jamie Smith

CRYSTAL PALACE: Crystal Palace were challenging the top four in December last year but fell away in 2016 to eventually finish a disappointing 15th. A top-half finish and another cup run would do the trick. Maybe even win it this time. Read >> -- Jim Daly

HULL CITY: Hull City bounced back to the Premier League following victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship playoff final. But can they stay there? Read >> -- Philip Buckingham

MIDDLESBROUGH: Aitor Karanka has masterminded Boro's return to the big time after seven seasons in the Football League, but now he must keep them there. All eyes will be on a rejuvenated team who make their return to the Premier League looking much more primed for action than their promoted counterparts. Read >> -- Catherine Wilson

SUNDERLAND: Sunderland staged another escape act last season, as they once again survived in the Premier League. The challenge now is for new boss David Moyes to develop the club so that late-season scrapes are a thing of the past. Read >> -- Colin Randall

Sports and Brands: Leceister say "iluv u" to players with a new i-8

Following their historic English Premier League win, Leicester City players were thanked by their chairman with a brand new BMW i8each.

The club's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is worth almost $3 billion and is said to have forked out almost $2 million to buy 19 i8s. It is reported that four of the players from the championship squad didn't receive an i8. Of those, one has moved to Chelsea after claiming the title and the three others were only briefly used as substitutes.

The 19 cars handed over to the players were specced almost identically, painted in a bright shade of blue. While no pictures of the interiors are available, the only element distinguishing some of the cars from the outside are different alloy wheels.

Designed by BMW to rival the Porsche 911, the i3 is the only sports car at its price point to feature a performance-focused hybrid powertrain. In conjunction with a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine and an electric motor, the i8 delivers 362 hp. 

Sport: That Man Shelvey

Bafetimbi Gomis got the touch that stymied the keeper, but it was another mid-range strike from Jonjo Shelvey (pictured) that allowed Welsh side Swansea to make club history today. Their 2-1 defeat of Manchester United , apart form sending Arsenal into third (following the Gunners win over Crystal Palace, marked the first time they had ever pulled the seasonal double over the Premier League's winningest team.