Arsenal FC
Manager: Arsene Wenger
Ground: Emirates Stadium (Capacity: 60,355)
Last season: 4th
Key Player: Cesc Fabregas
Star-in-waiting: Jack Wilshere
MAJOR TRANSFERS:
INs: Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax, £10 million)
OUTs: Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £25 million), Kolo Toure (Manchester City, £16 million)
I’ll stick my neck out and say that Arsenal is the team that plays the most beautiful game in the league. Their passing rhythm at its best is a joy to behold, even if you are a supporter of the opposing team. At times, every player in the team looks like a forward! The fluid movement and style of play could probably be a reason why Arsene Wenger has not invested in a forward this summer.
The problems for Wenger lie in a shaky centre of defence and a lack of a holding midfielder. Ever since Matthieu Flamini left for Milan, there has been no able replacement for that position. Wenger has so far kept faith in players like Song and Diaby, but so far there has not been enough on display to suggest that the concerns have been addressed fully.
Final Verdict: On current side strength, Arsenal can be expected to start out all guns blazing, demolishing one and all. The lack of depth however, will see them start running out of steam around the Christmas period. Unless they bring in more players, I don’t see them improving upon last season’s performance, and in a rare scenario, could even finish out of the Champions League spots. 4th spot again to the Gunners.
Chelsea FC
Manager: Carlo Ancelotti
Ground: Stamford Bridge (Capacity: 42,055)
Last season: 3rd
Key Player: Frank Lampard
Star-in-waiting: Daniel Sturridge
MAJOR TRANSFERS:
INs: Yury Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow, £18 million), Daniel Sturridge (Manchester City, undisclosed)
OUTs: Ben Sahar (Espanyol, undisclosed), Franco Di Santo (Blackburn Rovers, loan), Scott Sinclair (Wigan Athletic, loan), Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen, undisclosed)
Chelsea’s off-season has been dominated by two things: their new manager and their captain. Will he, won’t he: the John Terry saga stretched close to the start of the new season, with Manchester City finally failing in their quest to land the England skipper.
Ancelotti arrives at the Bridge to deliver the elusive Champions League title to the Blues, and improve upon the 3rd place from last season in the league. Should he fail to do any of these two, a Roman sack could be in line. A 3rd manager in 2 seasons has derailed Chelsea a bit, hence the need for stability. This could be a reason for only minor tweaking the squad. This continuity with the world-class players at Stamford Bridge makes them a deadly opponent.
Final Verdict: This season, with Ancelotti at the helm with his new formation, Chelsea will look to be rejuvenated with vigor. I’ll plump for Chelsea to finish the season as Champions.
Liverpool FC
Manager: Rafa Benitez
Ground: Anfield (Capacity: 45,276)
Last season: 2nd
Key Player: Fernando Torres
Star-in-waiting: Emiliano Insua
MAJOR TRANSFERS:
INs: Glen Johnson (Portsmouth, £18 million), Alberto Aquilani (Roma, £19 million)
OUTs: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid, £30 million), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid, €4 million)
With their best ever showing in 20 years, Liverpool came mighty close to stopping Manchester United’s bid in winning a third straight title, but ultimately lost out narrowly. Benitez’s decision to sell Xabi Alonso, who was one of the stars in last season’s campaign, in the previous summer came back to haunt him, as the Spaniard left to join the new galacticos at the Bernabeu. Benitez has moved quickly to replace him with Alberto Aquilani. But the Italian is a long-time injury-prone character. Till he is fit, Liverpool will miss the excellence of Alonso in the centre of the park.
Torres and captain Steven Gerrard will be looked at to provide the goals, and if the two can stay fit and firing for most of the season, Liverpool will be a worthy opponent to any team.
Final Verdict: The missing midfield maestro at Anfield threatens to derail Liverpool’s bid to land the elusive league title. To me, it looks like the tile bid depends on how well Aquilani can fill in Alonso’s boots. Right now, I’m going for a 3rd position for the runners-up.
Manchester City FC
Manager: Mark Hughes
Ground: City Of Manchester Stadium (Capacity: 48,000)
Last season: 10th
Key Player: Gareth Barry
Star-in-waiting: Stephen Ireland
MAJOR TRANSFERS:
INs: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa, £12 million), Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers, £17.5 million), Carlos Tevez (MSI, £25.5 million), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, £25 million), Kolo Toure (Arsenal, £16 million), Joleon Lescott (Everton, £24 million)
OUTs: Joe Hart (Birmingham City, loan), Jo (Everton, loan), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea, undisclosed), Elano (Galatasaray, €8 million), Valeri Bojinov (Parma, loan)
The biggest story of the summer in the English league was the big spending of Manchester City. The Eastlands club has spent over 100 million pounds in their bid to challenge the top 4’s supremacy of the English league. Mark Hughes, backed by Sheik Mansour’s millions, has assembled a squad which he feels is ready to take on the very best.
With the huge number of forwards at City’s disposal, a problem of attacking prowess will be Mark Hughes’ last concern. His real concerns are two-fold: getting his defence sorted out, something that troubled him last season as well; and getting the team to gel quickly to get results, before the owners’ sword starts hanging over his head.
Final Verdict: The squad looks good and should be able to compete at the highest level. To gel as a team however, City need time, and a top-6 finish this year should be the aim. Also, the defence needs to be reinforced some more, before they can be considered true contenders. The new revolution in English football will finish 5th.
Manchester United FC
Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson
Ground: Old Trafford (Capacity: 76,212)
Last season: 1st
Key Player: Wayne Rooney
Star-in-waiting: Federico Macheda
MAJOR TRANSFERS:
INs: Antonio Valencia (Wigan Athletic, £17 million), Michael Owen (Newcastle United, free), Gabriel Obertan (Bordeaux, £3 million)
OUTs: Carlos Tevez (released), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, £80 million), Fraizer Campbell (Sunderland, £3.5 million rising up to £6 million)
The champions were involved in the biggest transfer in history, with Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Real Madrid for a whopping £80 million in the summer. The Portugese winger has been the biggest star in English football for the past 2-3 years, and his absence in the lineup will be a big gap to fill for the Red Devils.
Wayne Rooney will be expected to step up to the goal-scoring mantle left by Rooney, while Valencia needs to perform excellently on the wing. Michael Owen will be exposed to a huge amount of media scrutiny throughout the season following his shock move to Old Trafford, and will need to be at the top of his game to provide able backup to Rooney and Berbatov. The defence is as good as last year though, and should prove just as miserly.
Final Verdict: With Ronaldo missing, the sheen seems to have been taken off the United team. Though most of the team is still at Old Trafford, the talisman’s absence will see them taking a hit and drop down to 2nd place.
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