English Premier League Preview : Part Five
Welcome to first class, drinks are free, enjoy your flight.
4th Chelsea (Last Year’s Finish 2nd)
Maybe I am still bitter with the final days of Scolari reign as Portugal’s head coach. Maybe I just think the heart breaking defeat in the Champions League will have an effect on this Chelsea team. Another reason for the drop down is that fact there are always outside distractions at Chelsea nothing ever can just run smoothly. There will always be front page gossip regarding the goings on with this team.
Avram Grant may of earned the nickname Avram Can’t but few coaches could do the job he did in a tough situation last year. Scolari may not live up to Grant’s record never mind the titles that Jose Mourinho brought to west London.
Focusing on the players there is no doubt that Chelsea have world class talent but one area of the pitch that may be lacking is up front. Drogba is banged up and getting close to 30 which is usually the age strikers start to break down. Aside from him former Bolton and a million other teams hitman Nicolas Anelka didn’t adjust to Chelsea well during the second half of last year. Don’t think any Chelsea fans want to rest their title hopes on Salomon Kalou and the less said about Andriy Shevchenko the better.
An area of the field Chelsea do not lack in will be midfield. It’s almost an embarrassment of riches. With Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Florent Malouda, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and new signing Deco who wanted a new challenge after a frustrating year at Barcelona last season.
Adding to the new faces will be another Portuguese International in the form of right back José Bosingwa who will work the flanks with left back Ashley Cole in support of the world class duo John Terry and the rock of the Cheslea back line Ricardo Carvalho.
Key Player
John Terry
I want to say Ricardo Carvalho since I will always argue he is the reason for Chelsea’s success at the back despite Terry grabbing the headlines but John Terry is still the face of this team. John Terry as mentioned off the top will need to put his slip behind him if he is to lead Chelsea back to the top of the EPL. Staying injury free for this season would be a bonus as well.
In: Jose Bosingwa (FC Porto, £16.2m), Deco (Barcelona, £8m).
Out: Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa, £5m), Ben Sahar (Portsmouth, loan), Ryan Bertrand (Norwich, loan), Slobodan Rajkovic (FC Twente, loan), Claude Makelele (Paris St Germain, free), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart, £4m), Tal Ben Haim (Manchester City, undisclosed), Shaun Cummings (MK Dons, loan), Anthony Grant (Southend, free).
3rd Liverpool (Last year’s finish 4th)
Another team with a fragile ownership structure that I can not trust to win the EPL. Any time the fragile peace between owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks to go along with Chairman Rick Parry and coach Rafa Benítez can break out in the headlines.
The majority of this summer has been spent chasing Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry. This is where Liverpool also differ from Manchester United and Chelsea. Once either team sets it’s set on a target especially a target from a lower ranked side such as Aston Villa (sorry Villa fans) both teams will end up getting their man. Liverpool on the other hand have made a mess of this Barry pursuit right from the start and if Barry isn’t a Liverpool player by the end of the transfer season it will set Liverpool off to a negative start.
One player that Liverpool didn’t waste anytime in signing was Robbie Keane who will make a lethal strike force with arguable the best striker in the world Fernando Torres. The Spanish hitman had a remarkable first season at Liverpool winning over fans and critics alike. Torres was by far the highlight of another ho hum Liverpool season and he capped off the season in gloriously style by winning Euro 2008 for Spain. On the flip side that is a lot of games to play in one season so that may have an effect going into this year. It will also be hard to ask him to top his performance of last year but there is no denying Fernando Torres quality.
The leader of this team is and will always be Steven Gerrard but there is something that just doesn’t sit right with me about Gerrard. When Liverpool where in a mess both on and off the pitch Gerrard went public with his frustrations about not getting over the hump. One can’t blame him for that since he has been at Liverpool for quite and awhile but on the flip side you had Torres who was very supportive of Rafa Benítez during that whole process. If Liverpool don’t get off to the best of starts yet again just see something coming to a head with that situation.
Key Player
Fernando Torres
Just a wonder player to watch, his hustle along with his grace on the ball left no questions regarding the judgment of his high price move from Atletico Madrid in 2007. Successful teams need a player who can turn nothing into a goal and Liverpool have one of the best in the world with Fernando Torres.
In: David Ngog (Paris St Germain, undisclosed), Emmanuel Mendy (Murcia Deportivo, free), Diego Cavalieri (Palmeiras, undisclosed), Andrea Dossena (Udinese, undisclosed), Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund, free), Robbie Keane (Tottenham, £20.3m).
Out: Jack Hobbs (Leicester, loan), Godwin Antwi (Tranmere, loan), Adam Hammill (Blackpool, loan), Scott Carson (West Brom, £3.25m), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth, £11m), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray, free), Paul Anderson (Nottingham Forest, loan), Anthony le Tallec (Le Mans, undisclosed), John Arne Riise (Roma, £4m), Besian Idrizaj (Wacker Tirol, free), Danny Guthrie (Newcastle, undisclosed), Robbie Threlfall (Hereford, loan), David Martin (Leicester, loan), Sebastian Leto (Olympiakos, loan).
2nd Manchester United (Last Year’s Finish 1st)
Manchester United are looking to become the first team since well Manchester United to win three straight EPL titles. While the smart money is on them to win it again for a third time I’ll go against the grain and pick United to come up just short in up coming year.
Yes, United won the double last year and Yes, over the course of an entire year United were the best team in football thanks to a brick wall defense and the genius of Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite that this was also a team which looked to be running out of gas at the end of the season. They dropped points to the likes of Blackburn and Middlesbrough then lost outright to Chelsea. Yes they also won the Champions League but quite frankly that was a coin flip that Manchester United were also lucky to have go their way.
With the Champions League win comes a trip to Japan during the middle of the season for the Club World Cup which adds on extra games in an already busy time of the season. With very few new faces, injuries and depth could pose an issue. Despite injuries to Rooney and Gary Neville being lost for the year Manchester United were also lucky to escape injuries last term. Something that hasn’t started off on the right note this year with Ronaldo being out until October.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a coach with a better resume than Sir Alex Ferguson but losing his assistant coach Carlos Queiroz may also be felt during points of the upcoming season.
That aside this is Manchester United afterall. Sir Alex Ferguson can still motivate his team like no one else. They feature a world class defensive partnership between Nemanja Vidić and Rio Ferdinand, the best player in the world Cristiano Ronaldo, and two strikers up front who never stop working in Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. With the exception of the old guards Giggs, Scholes, and Neville just about all their key players are young and entering the prime of their careers so it wouldn’t shock me in the least if United put this second place prediction to shame.
Key Player
Cristiano Ronaldo
Much like Torres may have a hard time repeating his form of last year the same can easily be said for Ronaldo. It will however be fun too see how he can top his form of last year since the eyes of the football world always seem fixed on the Portuguese superstar.
In: None.
Out: Adam Eckersley (AC Horsens, free), Gerard Pique (Barcelona, £5m), Tom Heaton (Cardiff City, loan), Chris Eagles (Burnley, £1m), Danny Simpson (Blackburn, loan)
1st Arsenal (Last Year’s Finish 3rd)
People may be sleeping on the fact that Arsenal was a Gallas penalty call away from being 8 points clear of Manchester United. Sadly for Arsenal fans that call against Birmingham to go along with Eduardo’s broken leg in the same game was something Arsenal could never quite seem to recover from.
It’s been three years and counting since Arsenal last won a trophy a fact that Arsenal fans will not forget. With Arsenal moving one unhappy player in Alexander Hleb but managing to convince another (Emmanuel Adebayor) the distracting transfer rumours of the summer are dying down at just the right time heading into the start of the season.
Losing Mathieu Flamini on a free transfer will hurt considering that Flamini and Cesc Fàbregas made a great pair in the middle of the field. With the added loss of veteran Gilberto Silva Arsenal may look to strengthen the center of the pitch before the transfer window closes or it can trust young players such as Denílson or Alexandre Song. One thing is for sure and that is Arsenal sure don’t lack talented young players with Carlos Vela, Nacer Barazite to go along with new arrivals Aaron Ramsey and Samir Nasri.
Key Player
Cesc Fàbregas
Despite not starting every game for Spain during their Euro 2008, just being a part of that team and playing a key role none the less is bound to have positive effects for Arsenal this coming season. There is no doubting Fabregas class and now the focused will be on him to see if he can learn from last year’s drop of form during the second half of last season.
In: Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff, £5m), Samir Nasri (Marseille, undisclosed), Amaury Bischoff (Werder Bremen, undisclosed).
Out: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos, £1m), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona, £11.8m), Jens Lehmann (Stuttgart, free), Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan, free), Kerrea Gilbert (Leicester, loan).
August 15th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
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