As with any pre season predictions these are merely guesses based on what is mixed with what might be but I will try and be as honest in my estimations of teams' capabilities as possible.
Champions - Arsenal have lost Clichy, look set to lose Fabregas at least if not also Nasri, that's their two best players and while Wilshere and Ramsey can take their place and Ricardo Alvarez looks to be on the way in I still feel squad wise and strength wise unless Arsenal spend and buy a defensive midfielder then they are not real title contenders. FIFTH
Chelsea are the unknown and the team that will obviously look the most revamped by the end of the window. Taking into account that everyone has a price in their side and their new manager Andre Villa-Boas is already looking to bring in some of his former Porto boys as well as players from other teams it will be interesting to see the side that Chelsea field for the first day of the season. A lot of people will tell you it is near impossible to win the title in your first year but Jose Mourinho will not be one of them as he did exactly that. It is worth noting that Chelsea were a team on the up who bought well and Mourinho gave them that final push after the forgotten work of the much maligned Claudio "Tinkerman" Ranieri. Villa Boas certainly in my eyes has a harder job with the ageing squad he has now. SECOND
Tottenham Hotspurs. Sorry Spurs fans but I can't take you seriously as title contenders because I can't remember the last time I saw you challenge. Your best player without a shadow of a doubt is Modric and Chelsea look to be wanting to replace Lampard with him. More to the point Modric wants out. Bale is injury prone despite being amoung the best left sided players in the world. The jury is still out on VDV's consistency and the most consistent and impressive player for me in the side other than Modric has been Dawson. Very much like Liverpool I feel the potential is there for a top four push if the right pieces are added but at this moment in time I can see Spurs finishing SIXTH
Liverpool. This is a team definitely on the up. Had Kenny started the beginning of the season then I believe and there is good evidence that Liverpool would actually have finished fourth at the expense of Manchester City and Spurs. As it is we will never know. Downing or Mata looks to be the topic of choice and will have a massive impact on how we play next season, which is exactly why I want Mata. Defensively we can be solid but injuries and age could catch up with Carragher soon to be 34, Agger and Aurelio injury prone and still no confirmed left back bought for next season. I do believe the money will be spent and on the right players and with Henderson newly arrived and Gerrard, Carroll and Aquilani all to be reintroduced into the side as well as the squad depth of youth players such as Robinson, Flannagan, Kelly and perhaps Pacheco and Sterling we have a lot more in reserve than people realise. THIRD
Manchester City. I'm still not sold on Mancini, he had a king's ransom there and barely held on to fourth. City for me are a cup team and I said that before they actually won the FA Cup. They're solid but there are still a lot of questions to be answered for me upfront. Tevez is the lynchpin yet he wants away and may not be there next season and even if he is it's no secret he doesn't want to be. Dzeko has hardly set the prem alight but next year is massive for him and Balotelli if City are to live up to expectations. They look set to miss out on Aguero, Sanchez and Neymar and there are already murmurs that Johnson and Milner are not happy. Add Kolarov to that list now probably since Clichy just signed for them. FOURTH
Manchester United. Yes that means I believe that United will retain their crown simply because there are too many ifs, buts and maybes about everyone else where United have made two solid signings to add to a side that already are the most consistent in England. They have solidity, squad depth, the most succesful manager in the league and an embarrasing array of talent up front with Berbatov not even making the bench in the CL final such was the impact of "Chicarito" or Javier Hernandez to give him his proper less moronic title. Do United play the best football? No. Do they have the best players one to eleven? No. Are they a team on the up? Not really. What they are is good enough to hold on while the rest try and regain some sense of semblance. FIRST
« Last Edit: Jul 05, 2011 03:07:30 pm by The Last King of Scotland »
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