Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, Football(Soccer), Liverpool, Manchester United, Premiership
Finally there is actually something more concrete to right about; the start of the season. After months of transfer speculation that never materialized and counting down the days until the season starts, alas it is here. This is an exciting year for the premiership at both the top and bottom of the league. With arguably nine candidates for relegation (though in my opinion more like six) and according to some a fifth challenger for the title in Manchester City (though if you’ve read my ten reasons why Arsenal will not be knocked out the top 4 you know I don’t see them as challenging the top 4) looking into the old crystal ball is quite hard. I released my predictions a few days ago and now have set about justifying them, while also breaking down offseason moves and season outlooks. I have broken the league into four categories; Relegation Battle Candidates, Mid-tablers, Europa League, and The Top 4.
The Top 4
(1) Manchester United
After three straight Premiership titles, this season Manchester United looks more vulnerable. With the departures of workhorse forward Carlos Tevez and arguably the best player in the world Cristiano Ronaldo, the biggest question is who will make up for their 23 league goals? The answer of course will not be shock signing Michael Owen or Antonio Valencia. Owen, a worthwhile risk as he is only 29 and clearly still has it (if he makes it from his bed to the pitch without getting injured), cannot and will not be relied upon as a starter. With the personnel currently at United, it will not be too long until they revert back to a 4-4-2 and Owen will be brought on as a 75th minute sparkplug substitute. Valencia on the other hand, is just not a scoring midfielder; he is, however, a great set up midfielder who’s likely to set up a fair amount of opportunities for forwards Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney. With more freedom, I expect Rooney to walk away with the Premiership’s golden boot. I am aware I have posted my predictions after Steve Fales from downswinging.com but I can assure you I told him the day before we watched Fulham pound FK Vetra at the Cottage’s first taste of European football eleven days ago that Rooney would be the golden boot winner. It will be interesting to see if Federico Macheda impresses enough to keep United formation the same as last year, though I see this as a year where he gets more opportunities and next year will be his breakout year. Gabriel Obertan is a buy for the future, whether he, like the Da Silva twins and other recent youngsters snapped up by United pan out remains to be seen. The team is deeper and younger than Chelsea’s and unless Berbatov fails to show up, Rooney or Vidic and Ferdinand gets injured, I can’t imagine Sir Alex’s men finishing lower than second at worst.
(2) Chelsea
For the third season in a row, it is the start and yet another manager will be walking the sidelines for Chelsea. Carlo Ancelotti is the fifth manager in two calendar years as Roman Abramovich continues to tinker with every manager he over pays. (more…)
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Aston Villa, Everton, Football(Soccer), Manchester City, Premiership, Spurs, Tottenham, Tottenham Hotspur
(5) Everton
The “other” team from Liverpool was the last to break into the top 4 in 2005; knocking Liverpool out and bringing much joy to Toffee fans. Unfortunately, the following season UEFA let the Champions League winning Liverpool side into the tournament even without having held onto their domestic place (but that is neither here nor there). After two years of finishing fifth, I see no reason for them not to keep finishing there. Though they are not flooded with transfer funds, David Moyes is a very solid manager whose savvy transfer market dealings have continued to strengthen the team. Up front they have secured Jo on another loan spell after he impressed the second half of last season. His partnership with either Yakubu (who is back after a year-long injury) or the injury prone spark plug Louis Saha is very solid. In the midfield, the return of Mikel Arteta along with the strong seasons of Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini and the always dangerous Steven Pienaar make them a quite formidable side. In defense they will need to keep Joleon Lescott both because of his importance to the team and should he be bought by Manchester City it would be that much easier for them to overtake Everton. Everton doesn’t have a strong Right Back and are a little light on depth at the back but the team chemistry is there and the re-addition of Yakubu and Arteta to a fifth place squad sees Moyes’ men stay in fifth.
(6) Manchester City
A couple weeks ago I broke down why Arsenal would not be knocked off the top 4. It was half aimed at why Manchester City will not knock them off and partially why Arsenal will hold off the challengers to their top 4 spot. I would suggest reading it for a more in depth look, here’s a shorter, more concise season preview for City.
In recent years, billionaires have become all the rage in English football and Manchester City are no exception. (more…)
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Blackburn, Bolton, Football(Soccer), Fulham, Mid-table, Premiership, Sam Allardyce, Sunderland, West Ham, Wigan
(9) Fulham
After shocking everyone and finishing in 7th, qualifying Fulham for the Europa League, Roy Hodgson’s men find themselves fighting an uphill battle. With the added games and travel that comes with European football, Fulham and their thin squad will face fatigue, possible injuries, and weaker domestic form. Though the starting XI is strong enough to compete for a Europa League spot, I think their lack of depth will be a problem and last season’s luck of no major injuries will not continue this season. Recent transfer rumblings though, if true would be a major boost and could see Fulham continue to challenge domestically while also maintaining a European campaign. Damien Duff and Mark Viduka, both (formerly) of Newcastle would add some much needed depth. Without any new additions this team will struggle in Europe for sure and possibly domestically as well. After spending a year together, Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson will need to utilize their knowledge of each other to score more. The Cottagers also need to hold on to Brede Hangeland as he is the rock of their team and the main reason, along with Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer that Fulham let in the least amount of goals last season outside the top 4. Hodgson is a very good manager who gets the best out of his players and as long as he is there, Fulham is not to be ruled out for European football.
(10) Sunderland
If the transfers pan out, this could be the first time in three years they aren’t barely staving off relegation. With the additions of Fraizier Campbell and Darren Bent to an attack that already had Kenwyne Jones gives Steve Bruce the quality and depth many teams lack in the Premiership. (more…)
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Birmingham, Burnley, Football(Soccer), Hull City, Joe Hart, Portsmouth, Premiership, Premiership Predictions, Stoke City, Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wolves
(15) Wolves
Wolves scored a lot last season as they took the Championship crown and will probably continue to score a lot with the addition of Kevin Doyle from Reading. The Ireland international scored 18 goals in the championship last year and scored 19 in his two seasons in the premiership. The addition of another Reading man, Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann will bring premiership experience (he was in net for Reading’s 8th place season in the premiership in 2006/7) and a mentor to their young Goalkeepers. The only major problem is that the Wanderers will also allow a lot of goals with a back line that is not exactly top-notch. Much like Stoke City though, I see Wolves as playing a different kind of football than usually seen from scrappy fighting relegation teams allowing them to stay up this season, their first in the premiership since 2003/2004.
(16) Stoke City
Stoke City reminds me a lot of Reading two seasons ago; they were lucky to have finished so high and are still in the relegation discussion a season later. (more…)
Given that the season starts Saturday, the prediction had to be made this week. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the transfer window does not close until September, leaving the possibility open that a high profile (or not so high profile) signee will make all the difference. If on the seemingly off-chance a Defensive Midfielder and Brede Hangeland join Arsenal, they will win the premiership. A team by team breakdown will soon follow to justify my picks.
- Manchester United
- Chelsea
- Arsenal
- Liverpool
- Everton
- Manchester City
- Aston Villa
- Spurs
- Fulham
- Sunderland
- West Ham
- Bolton
- Blackburn
- Wigan
- Wolves
- Stoke City
- Birmingham City
- Portsmouth
- Hull City
- Burnley
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Armand Traore, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Emirates Cup, Football(Soccer), Jack Wilshere, Mamadou Sakho, Marouane Chamakh, Paris Saint-Germain, Premiership, Rangers, Tomas Rosicky
On a typical rainy London summer Saturday, the pre-season excitement was in full bloom. After a temporary shut-down of the Piccadilly Line (The tube line that runs to the Arsenal tube station) made some fans take alternative routes with longer walks, it did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Rangers’ fans. With what seemed like nine thousand (or more) fans in Rangers Blue, it felt as if maybe there was a Champions League match on at the Emirates.
Wilshere: Can he prove the critics wrong about the Young Gunners?
Although the stadium slowly but surely started to fill up throughout the first game between Rangers and Paris Saint-Germain, lower tier blocks 21-26 were filled with jumping up and down singing Rangers’ fans and the corresponding upper tiers were as well. The sign hanging announcing “The Blue Order” and the enthusiasm that complimented it should make Rangers an annual invitee to the Emirates Cup (barring an unreported drunken riot or incident). After all off and on between the 1930s and the 1960s Rangers and Arsenal played a series of friendlies, why not restart that tradition?
Unfortunately, the first game was sloppy with lots of unnecessary loss of possession. The first half saw a couple of chances from Mevlut Erding, the twenty two year old Turkish international bought from Sochaux for a rumored €11 million but not much else. To their credit Rangers did start a weaker side than they normally would. In the second half The Algerian international defender Madjid Bougherra headed a Pedro Mendes corner into the top right corner and off the head of a PSG defender to score what would be the winning goal. Mamadou Sakho the nineteen year old French international came on as a substitute in the second half and although he had a couple of good moments, left the impression that he could use another year of first team football in France before possibly making the switch to the Emirates. Pedro Mendes won man of the match and just like that all the Rangers’ fans disappeared (there weren’t really any PSG fans to begin with so their disappearance was not felt).
The moment that most of the more than 54,000 spectators had been waiting for had finally arrived; Arsenal versus Atletico Madrid. (more…)
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Arsenal, Blaise Matuidi, Emmanuel Eboue, Football(Soccer), Gokhan Inler, Marouane Chamakh, Patrick Vieira, Premiership
After this week brought Arsenal’s profits from the endless cash supply that is Manchester City up to £41 million, a similarly high number of rumors have spread about how it is to be spent; even linking the notoriously low spending Gunners with a £30 million bid for Roma’s prized defensive midfielder Daniele De Rossi. I hate to say it but that is not going to happen. Arsene Wenger has spent too much time promoting his squad as ready to challenge for trophies and slandering spending sprees to pull a move like that. It also would not show faith in the youngsters he has defended so vehemently.
Gokhan Inler, a player who would very much address a somewhat glaring need of Arsenal’s for a defensive/holding midfielder, has come right out and said that he will not be leaving Udinese. After two summers of speculation as well as two Switzerland teammates (defenders Johan Djourou and Philippe Senderos) at Arsenal, it is fairly safe to say he is staying put.
The Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh has yet again resurfaced as a potential transfer when Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud caused a stir and revealed that he has had phone conversations with Wenger. It is not clear what is to be believed in regards to Chamakh, but rest assured there will be no complaints if he is brought in to replace Adebayor. The one thing that is possibly going to stand in the way of his move is the price of his transfer. With a range of prices from£7 million (almost too good to be true) to £13 million(£1 million for every goal he scored in the French Ligue seems a little much), it should not surprise anyone if he plays another season at Bordeaux because they underestimated Wenger’s resolve to not overpay for players.
Vieira: Returning to Arsenal as a mentor?
If, as many sources say, Emmanuel Eboue swaps Arsenal red for Fiorentina purple for a fee around £9 million, look for Wenger to swiftly bring in St Entienne defensive midfielder Blaise Matuidi and possibly Captain Fantastic himself Patrick Vieira to mentor the Young Gunners midfield. Vieira would be most welcome back and Matuidi could just become the player that has been missing from Arsenal’s midfield since, well Vieira (though Mathieu Flamini was an admirable holding midfielder he was no Vieira).
This could also all be some wishful thinking from some Arsenal fan. Maybe Aaron Ramsey, Abou Diaby or Denilson will pan out and become that DM Arsenal lack; stranger things have happened and Wenger is acting like he has some tricks up his sleeve. I will personally get a better feel for it tomorrow and report back from day one of the third annual Emirates Cup.
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Bundesliga, Darren Bent, Football(Soccer), Mark Hughes, Obafemi Martins, Premiership, Sir Alex Ferguson, Steve Bruce
First, let me start by taking a moment to acknowledge the passing of a legend. Rest in peace Sir Bobby Robson. You served your country well and managed Newcastle far better than all but Alan Shearer deserved.
In more uplifting news, today has been quite a revealing day for two of Sir Alex Ferguson’s “disciples.” Steve Bruce claims to have no idea what Twitter is and Mark Hughes thinks players aren’t going to Manchester City because of the money. What is next; Roy Keane believes players capped by Republic of Ireland national team and former Manchester United players to be the best transfers because of skill and not because of his familiarity with them? Paul Ince believes promoting MK Dons from league two to league one sans even a UEFA B license makes him qualified to coach a Premiership club with top 8 and UEFA cup qualifying aspirations? Can we all agree to have higher standards before anointing everyone who donned a United jersey a “disciple” of Ferguson’s?
Bent: Wishes he didn't know what Twitter was
I’ll bet Darren Bent wishes he too had no idea what Twitter was. The striker who has been linked with a transfer to Sunderland and depending on the day or source; Aston Villa and Stoke City, has been fined £120,000 for his angry “tweet” against Spurs chairmen Daniel Levy. Anyone else want to “tweet” for all to read about how their boss sucks; sure, but did anyone else do it; no. Let this be a lesson to all professional football (soccer) players; leave the criticism of management for after you have been transferred to another team.
Obafemi Martins has escaped Newcastle, headed for the defending German Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg. With two quality strikers up front for Wolfsburg already in Grafite (28 goals in the Bundesliga this past season) and Edin Dzeko (26 goals), Martins provides the depth for Wolfsburg to run a more offensive minded formation domestically and in the Champions League. It also allows AC Milan and Arsenal fans to once again speculate that Dzeko is available at a price. Given the fairly low price paid for Martins, the legitimate ambition of Wolfsburg has to retain their first ever Bundesliga title and the desire to make a strong first showing in their maiden appearance in the Champions League group stages, let me be the first to predict Dzeko is going nowhere, not this summer at least. I know we live on transfer rumors all summer but if you hear Dzeko’s name, do not get your hopes up.
(Update: Edin Dzeko has signed a contract extension, keeping him at Wolfsburg until June 2013)
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Football(Soccer), Frank Rijkaard, Galatasaray, Turkish Superleague
Rijkaard: The man to turn things around at Galatasaray?
After a disappointing fifth place finish last year, Galatasaray has put the pieces in place to make a push for the Turkish Superleague title once again. When the former manager Michael Skibbe was fired in February after a string of poor performances from the team, Bülent Korkmaz the famous Galatasaray Centre Back took over as manager. His lack of previous managerial roles showed with the disappointing finish and his resignation as manager soon followed. With six managers in four years, the Galatasaray job isn’t exactly very secure and comes with very high expectations. Who better to fill that role than Frank Rijkaard who although young, is no newcomer to high expectations after five years as manager at Barcelona in which he won both the Champions League and La Liga. With a captain to right the ship, it didn’t take long for the former UEFA cup champions to get their feet wet in the transfer market.
Adding to a squad that already includes eight who have been called up to the Turkish national side during World Cup Qualifiers, Rijkaard has added Leo Franco, Abdul Kader Keïta, and Blumer Elano. (more…)
Filed under: Football(Soccer) | Tags: Arsenal, Football(Soccer), Manchester City, Premiership
It is getting close to the start of the Premiership season and the fourth annual “Arsenal will lose their spot in the top 4” talk has all but slowed down. With the “Young Gunners” failing to fully mature thus far and the departures of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to Manchester City, many non-Arsenal fans have backed the Manchester City spending machine to oust Arsenal from the Top 4. Although it is easy to jump on the bandwagon, here are 10 reasons why Arsenal will keep its place in the Champions League.
1. Right now Man City has a weak defense.
Tal Ben-Haim barely played this season, couldn’t make it for a top four team that had injury problems in the back the year before that, and in 06/07 started for a defense that let up more goals than the team scored. And the attack included Nicolas Anelka, El Hadji Diouf, Nicky Hunt, Ivan Campo and Kevin Nolan. Pablo Zabaleta may be an Argentine international, but he hasn’t been called up for World Cup Qualifier on a team that isn’t known for its defense. You don’t hear his name thrown out when talking about best backs in the premiership either. Micah Richards although an “England international” and still very young, hasn’t been outstanding for City or the U-21s England side. As the European Under-21 championship final exposed, England’s defense wasn’t exactly jaw dropping. Nedum Onuoha hasn’t impressed me or really proven he can be a starting back for a top 4 team, let alone a mid-table team though he is young and Everton caused a stir by putting in a bid for him. The bids were rejected though and he now has a fat new contract. Richard Dunne is alright but the main point remains, he’s only played in 10 UEFA cup games ever and has never played for a team that was actually chasing hardware. He’s also not getting any younger and with the last six seasons him having played around 266 games, injuries may just get the better of him one of these days. Wayne bridge hasn’t played more than 19 (half) of a premiership season since 2003-4. He is also the highest paid full back in the world and he was Chelsea’s second choice at left. Even the addition of Kolo Toure, who at 28(if that is even his age) is starting to have injury troubles and it is fairly well known that he doesn’t defend well against corners and set pieces (long the Achilles heel of Arsenal). Add in the fact that the African Nations Cup will have him miss league time throughout february and he’s not exactly the answer to all the defensive troubles.
This group of defenders(minus Toure) let up 32 away goals last year, more than relegated Newcastle. Barring the signings of Joleon Lescott and another proven premiership defender, the defensive woes for Man City will continue. David Moyes would rather shoot himself in the foot than sell Lescott. After three straight years of fifth place, Everton are not looking to go down. This is a business though, and Everton isn’t exactly made of cash, making a certain price possible to pry away the heart of their defense. (more…)
