By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
The 22nd
Premier League season begins on Saturday, and there is plenty of intrigue
behind the new campaign. It is a season
of new dawns and new challenges, as a new era for the game begins following the
retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager in May.
The defending
champions will be looking to add league title number 21 to their collection
come May 2014, but if they do that, it will be under new management. David Moyes has succeeded Ferguson into the
biggest job in football and he is already learning the ropes at Old
Trafford. Moyes (pictured) has wasted little time
in criticising the big hierarchy for the scheduling of the Red Devils first
five fixtures, which involves encounters with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester
City. He has had to put up with a
troubled Wayne Rooney, who is seeking a move away from the Theatre of Dreams
and missed out on his number one summer target Cesc Fabregas.
You feel that a quality midfielder is
required before the transfer window slams shut if it is going to be a fruitful
first season in the post for the new Scot, and he will be banking on another
prolific season of goals from Dutch ace Robin van Persie. They start their title defence on Saturday in
the evening kick-off against Swansea City, a match you can see live and free on
Sky Sports and Pick TV’s freeview service.
Title
favourites with many of the bookmakers seem to be Chelsea. The Blues finished the campaign very strong
last season, winning another European trophy and coming in the top three in the
league. With job done, Rafa Benitez duly
made way for the return of the ‘Special One,’ or the ‘Happy One,’ as he wants
to be called nowadays. Jose
Mourinho is back in the Premier League and seems happy to take a second dose of
the Roman Abramovich treatment. Their
first partnership ended acrimoniously in September 2007, but the Portuguese
boss led Chelsea to a brief dominance of the major prizes with two league
titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup.
He will want European glory for the Londoners having missed out on that
silverware first time around, and has a reputation to repair after an unhappy final season with Real Madrid.
The Premier League, Chelsea fans and the English media welcome him back
with open arms.
To complete
the set of new managers from last season’s top three, Manuel Pellegrini arrives
at Manchester City. The ex-Malaga and
Real Madrid coach doesn’t have a proven track record of delivering success in
terms of trophies, but he plays attractive, expansive football and the camp
seems much happier than it did in the closing days of the Roberto Mancini
reign. City’s board took some stick for
firing Mancini a full year to the day of winning the league title in 2012, but
the Chilean looks like a sound appointment.
He has also recruited well in the summer break. Over £80m has been spent to bring in Fernandinho, Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic and Jesus Navas. It might be a season in the shadows for the
Citizens, but if the fans and the owners keep faith with Pellegrini, City could
be set for some very good years ahead.
It doesn’t
look so rosy for Arsenal though. Their
fans seem to be getting more frustrated with every passing day. Call it luck or bad judgement; Arsene Wenger’s
handling of the transfer market this summer has been very poor. His stiff and firm approach has seen the
Gunners not spend a single penny, despite having a decent budget to use. Jovetic, Gonzalo Higuain, Bernard and now Luis Gustavo have turned down a move to north London. His only purchase is the young striker Yaya
Sanogo on a free transfer from Auxerre.
Arsenal shouldn’t be written off when it comes to the powers of recovery,
but don’t look to have improved the squad.
They might have Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott, plus
Olivier Giroud should do much better with a season of learning the physicality of the league under his belt, but they won’t win a single thing this season
unless Wenger spends and spends big before the end of the summer transfer
window.
North London
rivals Tottenham look to be in better shape.
Whilst the speculation over the future of in-demand Gareth Bale
continues, Andre Villas-Boas has done well to clear out some of the deadwood in
his squad and replace it with real quality.
The club’s transfer record has been broken to bring in £26m worth of
striking class in Roberto Soldado.
Midfielders Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli and Brazilian Paulinho look to
be a step up in class from the departed Jake Livermore, Tom Huddlestone and
Scott Parker. Tottenham could push hard
for some form of silverware this season in the cups, and start the season as
favourites to claim fourth spot and coveted Champions League qualification.
Without the
distraction of Europe this term, Liverpool could become more of a danger to the
challenge for a top four finish. Brendan Rodgers
is now in his second season in the Anfield dugout and continues to invest in
youth policy for the future. The likes
of Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ibe look like stars of the future, while it will
be exciting to see Belgian Simon Mignolet in goal for the club. It will be interesting to see how the likes
of Phillippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge also develop this
season, and how much is left in the legs of England skipper Steven
Gerrard. Rodgers hasn’t finished his
business in the transfer market yet, even though the controversial Luis Suarez
continues to make all the headlines. The
Reds have a good starting 11, but if their fans are hoping for some success, a
cup win looks more likely this season.
There are
other new appointments in the league.
Roberto Martinez has quit Wigan to take over the vacancy Moyes has left
behind at Everton. It will be tough to
repeat some of his magic from Lancashire at the Toffees, but Everton have kept
their big names and added some depth with Arouna Kone and Antolin Alcaraz
joining their old boss. However a
serious lack of replacements in the playing staff will probably hamstring a top
four target the boss has set. The
Premier League also welcomes back Mark Hughes after his sacking from QPR back
in November. He succeeds Tony Pulis at
Stoke City, and has a point to prove. It
will be interesting to see how Stoke’s playing style changes under new
management.
Swansea City
will be a joy to watch as usual, and Steve Clarke will be hoping the
combination of Matej Vydra, Shane Long and Nicolas Anelka can fill the goals
void Romelu Lukaku has left at West Brom.
There is also the exciting prospect of seeing Rickie Lambert build on
his international heroics at a dangerous looking Southampton side, and to see
how the fresh, youthful look has moved on at Aston Villa, helped by Christian
Benteke’s decision to stay at Villa Park.
Norwich have
recruited well in the transfer market, and West Ham will be tough to beat,
especially at Upton Park. The striking
partnership of Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent promises goals at Fulham, but
it could be a long season for the Tyneside clubs Sunderland and Newcastle
United again, whilst it will be a big ask for Cardiff City, Hull City and
Crystal Palace. All three clubs have
come up from the Championship, and the majority have tipped all three to go
straight back down again.
In reality,
last season’s Premier League campaign can hardly be described as
memorable. Frankly, it was a poor
prologue to the drama of 2011-12.
However 2013-14 should be much better, and the big kick-off is now less
than 24 hours away.
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